Infinite Stratos: The Iron-Blooded Devil
by Azure Dragon of the East
Summary: During the Mondo Grosso, Ichika was believed to have died in the chaos of his kidnapping. five years later, a new student has come to IS Academy with a bizarre new IS. "Let's go, Barbatos!"
1. The Return Home part 1

"Speech"

" _Flashback Speech"_

 _/Speech over communication tech/_

 _ **Disclaimer: All properties are owned by Izuru Yumizuru and Sunrise respectively.**_

 **Infinite Stratos: The Iron-Blooded Devil**

Chapter 1: The Return Home Part 1

My name is Houki Shinonono and I'm a student at the IS academy.

My life was pretty normal at first, my family lived in a shrine where I studied Kendo alongside my oldest friend, Ichika. We sparred so many times and he beat me every single time. It was a week before the national Kendo tournament, many called us shoo-ins for the top spot. I had made a promise to Ichika that if I won, we would become boyfriend and girlfriend. I was so nervous on the day of the finals and yet I was determined to take the top spot but then my life was changed forever because of my own sister.

She unveiled to the world her greatest creation: the Infinite Stratos.

Over 2000 missiles from around the world were launched by some unknown hacker, all of which were aimed at Japan. A single Infinite Stratos unit shot them all down, showcasing to the world the power of the IS; before disappearing without a trace. The government, fearful of that it could be used as a weapon and our family being used as leverage; pulled me out of the tournament and I lost by default. Before they drove us away to some safe house, I saw Ichika running after us… that was the last time I saw him.

For more than a year, we kept moving from place to place. I lost track of how many different schools I went to and all the news talked about was the IS. The Alaska Treaty was passed in wake of the "White Knight" incident as they call it, but it quickly became a popular sport with a yearly tournament called the Mondo Grosso. I had heard Chifuyu, Ichika's older sister participated and became the first champion or "Brunhilde;" no surprise there. And it's also because of the IS that there was massive shift in society. For reasons even my sister didn't know why, only females could pilot them; this caused women to be favored more and lately, it seems to have gone to their heads. I remember one time that some girls were picking on a boy minding his own business, part of me wanted to go over and help but at this point it had become so commonplace that I… I still regret not doing what I should've. I still wonder if that was some kind of test from above and I had failed; if it was then the punishment for failing was severe because the next day, just after the second Mondo Grosso finals, I was told Ichika was kidnapped and killed when Chifuyu went to go rescue him.

When I saw Chifuyu at Ichika's funeral, her eyes just seemed empty. I remember going up to her, begging that this was some cruel joke and Ichika was okay.

" _Chifuyu, where's Ichika? This is some kind of joke, right? Right?!" I cried._

But she said nothing, she didn't react to anything that people said or questions asked; it was like she was dead to the world. I don't know how many nights I cried myself to sleep, it probably wasn't near as the ones Chifuyu most likely did. After it was over, I went over to see Chifuyu again but found my sister there with her.

" _Chi-chan… I-"_ I heard Tabane try to say.

" _Don't."_ Chifuyu cut her off. _"This…all of it was because of the IS. Because of you!"_

" _But Chi-chan, I didn't-"_

" _If you EVER show your face around me again…I'll kill you!"_

I was told that he was kidnapped as ransom for Chifuyu to drop out of the tournament; in way, it all led back to the IS. I began to hate the people who took him, hate the IS for making the world the way it is now and hate my sister for creating it in the first place and ruining my life. Time passed on, I still kept up my Kendo training, if only as some way to keep Ichika alive to me. I kept that hate for years, not realizing what it was doing to me until last year's Kendo tournament. During the final match, I kept thinking back to Tabane and the IS; fueling my rage that I beat my opponent rather fiercely. When I saw that single tear fall, I saw what I had become. I wasn't practicing swordsmanship, I was just beating up my opponents to vent my anger; I know that Ichika wouldn't have wanted that. No matter how much I wanted to, it wouldn't bring him back. When it became time to pick a high school to attend, many suggested I attend the IS Academy. I was against it at first but relented and agreed, perhaps as some way to reconcile with Tabane; to try to understand why the world was so enamored with her creation.

When I discovered that Chifuyu was going to be my homeroom teacher, I thought maybe I'd have someone to talk to whenever I felt down again.

"Chifuyu?" I began.

"That's Ms. Orimura. What do you want, Shinonono?" she asked rather harsh.

"I just… wanted to ask how you been?"

"My private life is none of your concern, now get to your next class, I'm busy!"

But those thoughts were dashed when she acted like the teacher from hell. Her eyes were still as empty as that day and would probably be that way until the end. She seemed so full of anger and pain, I guess she never got over Ichika's death either; I couldn't blame her. I think she even became an alcoholic to numb the pain, I could smell it on her breath sometimes when she was yelling at us in class.

She had become the same as I did.

The class I was put in certainly had its fair share of colorful people. The first was that blonde girl from England, Cecilia; that girl's got a mouth and ego on her. Next came a girl from France not two days ago, Charlotte, she was a bit more approachable than the other blonde. And just recently, Laura, who seemed to know Chifuyu in some way. I had heard that Class 2 also had a transfer from China, but I didn't catch the name. Academy life carried on in relative peace and quiet, it was almost kind of boring.

It was when that mystery IS attacked the school during the interclass tournament that something happened. After it had been disabled, it was taken away to be analyzed by Chifuyu and the teachers. I saw her again later that night but she looked beyond furious and I knew that there was only a few things that could make her that angry. And considering an IS was involved, I had a good hunch it was my sister that caused this. Chifuyu was absent the next morning, she had called in and said she had a personal issue to resolve; I figured she was chewing out Tabane for what she did. She returned the following day, however, something was different. Her eyes seemed softer, a little brighter; like someone had relit the fire in her. She was still hard on us but unlike before, she seemed more alive than she had been in years. I don't think I was the only one to notice, several students gossiped about her sudden change but they were too intimidated by her to ask.

I was getting curious as well; after about a week or two of wondering… and working up the nerve….I asked. What she had to say only made things more confusing.

"The unmanned IS was sent by Tabane. In her own words, she said that 'since I don't accept her calls or write back anymore, how else was she gonna get my attention?"

"What did she want?"

She hesitated a bit, almost like she was debating with herself about telling me. She looked back at me with a small, soft smile; something I hadn't seen in the longest time.

"Let's just say that a new student will be transferring in within a month."

 _That_ certainly wasn't cryptic. What does a student have to do with her sudden change? It wasn't until later that I found out that someone overheard us. The news spread around school quickly. No one was quite sure what kind of student could cause such a shift in her; not even Laura Bodewig, the representative contender from Germany. For weeks, all anyone could talk about was the mystery student and the upcoming school tournament.

I was in the quad when I heard someone say that three representative contenders were fighting in arena 4. When I got there, Laura Bodewig was taking on Cecilia Alcott and that girl from class 2; Lingyin Huang, I think her name was. Despite it being two against one, Laura was clearly dominating; thanks in no small part to her unveiled AIC. She had just knocked the both of them down; Huang was just about to fire her shock cannon before Bodewig destroyed it with her own cannon. However, this gave Alcott an opening as she fired her missiles point blank at her. They managed to back away but when the smoke cleared, Laura looked unscathed. I was drawn away from the fight below a large group of people entering the arena; they seemed to be carrying broadcasting equipment.

Reporters? What are they doing here?

"Excuse me, can I help you?"

"We received a call that a new student would arriving today and the identity of this girl is gonna rock the world."

Why would a transfer student be such big news? The lead reporter approached me with a microphone, almost jabbing me in the face with it.

"Perhaps you can tell us something about this new student?"

"I don't know anything about her, no one does."

"I'm afraid she's right, even we don't know anything," a man's voice interjected.

It was Mr. Kutsuwagi, our _official_ Principal as his wife is believed to be the one outside the academy walls. Several more people followed close behind, and now the whole faculty was here, too? This was starting to sound like something Tabane had a hand in, but what was it and why?

The sound of a crash pulled me back to the fight, Laura had wrapped her wires around their necks; trying to choke them. She then went on to pummel them mercilessly. If she keeps going, the IS's shield energy won't last at this rate. Even worse, if the damage doesn't stop, the mandatory unlock activates and it could kill them in this state. Bodewig kept up her assault, breaking off parts of there IS armor. The more I watched, the more it felt like looking in a mirror. Several students were yelling at her to stop but she simply laughed and kept going. Then Charlotte came barreling I guns blazing but Laura just activated her AIC and stopped the bullets and returned fire; knocking her down. It was clear that Bodewig was out of control.

"Have some of the faculty get in there and stop that girl before she seriously hurts them!" I heard Mr. Kutsuwagi order.

"That won't be necessary."

Chifuyu walked out calmly before she set down some kind of radio on the short wall and watched the beat down below.

"Ms. Orimura, shouldn't someone stop her?" I asked, things were starting to get dangerous down there.

"Don't worry, the new transfer student offered to break this up."

"Does that mean she's finally arrived?" the newscaster asked her, holding a mic close to her.

She said nothing to that. I got closer and whispered: "Is you-know-who responsible for this?"

"The fight, no; everything else, yes. I asked and she said it was not part of her 'big surprise' but she's rolling with it."

I could believe that. If there was one thing I knew my sister was terrible at, it was lying; withhold information but not lie.

"Ms. Orimura, we have to stop this now before Ms. Bodewig-" he stopped suddenly.

That's when I heard it, a distinct whistling sound and it was coming from above. The gathered students, teachers, news crew, even Laura stopped her assault as she and everyone else around looked up to see an approaching craft heading for the academy.

"Here he comes now."

Yeah, and I was at least gonna see what made this student so special that – hold on!

"Did you just say 'he?" I asked her. Everyone else snapped back to her, wondering if they heard her right.

She said nothing, only kept her eyes to the sky. The radio crackled before it picked up two people talking to each other.

 _/We're coming up on the Academy, are you sure you wanna do this?/_

One I instantly recognized as my sister.

 _/Yeah, it's fine/_

The other, a boy, sounded familiar but I couldn't place where. A white object then dropped out of the craft as my sister spoke again.

 _/If you say so; good luck!/_

The craft flew away, leaving its payload to fall towards us. As the object got closer, its features became more apparent; a humanoid shape with a long object in its hand. No doubt an IS. But from the conversation I heard not minutes ago, the only ones on that shuttle were my sister and the strange familiar boy; Tabane was obviously not in it and the boy couldn't be in the IS, it doesn't work for males.

So then who was in the machine?

Suddenly, it open fired at the arena floor.

(End POV)

 ***Insert Gundam IBO OST opening 3: Rage of Dust by SPYAIR***

Multiple shots hit the ground, kicking up dust. The white IS continued its speedy descent.

"Inertia control and thrusters, full throttle!"

The white machine kicked in its systems and slowed its fall almost instantly. It was still going fast enough to kick up a cloud of dust as it hit the ground. Laura shielded herself from the dust and debris kicked up by the machine's landing. When the shockwave settled, she caught a glimpse of a silhouette in the dust cloud.

"Who dares to challenge me and my Schwarzer Re-"

She was cut off by a powerful blow. The Absolute Defense System still protected her from anything life-threatening but the strike was still strong enough to knock the wind out of her and send her flying back several feet; releasing her grip on Cecilia and Rin and allowing Charlotte to pull them to safety. It also cleared the dust away to reveal the new arrival.

Its body was predominately white with a pair of flaps on the shoulder guards and top areas on either side of the torso painted blue. The sole part of its feet and its rather prominent chin were a red color while the two sets of claws on the feet, the fingers, the vents on its chest, the fin object on its back and the crest, which was shaped like two sets of horns, were gold. Its arms were rather long but the rest of the body was far more proportionate and slimmer compared to other IS; its left hand grasped the weapon that sent Laura flying: a sword mace. Its head shifted a little as its green eyes lit up brightly.

Laura growled as she pulled herself up; furious as this interloper's gall.

" _Verdammt,_ what is that thing? Who the hell are you?!"

"My name is…"

The voice was distinctly masculine, something that shocked the silver-haired German, her opponents and everyone within earshot of the mech.

"…Ichika Orimura, and this is my IS: Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex!"

Chifuyu smiled as she picked up the radio's microphone.

"Ichika… welcome to the Academy."

The Barbatos' head glanced in her direction.

 _/Good to be here./_

Houki gasped, a hand covered her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes.

 _/Chifuyu, is that Houki next to you?/_

"I-Ichika?"


	2. The Return Home part 2

"Speech"

 _"Flashback Speech"_

 _/Speech over communication tech/_

 _ **Disclaimer: All properties are owned by Izuru Yumizuru and Sunrise respectively.**_

 **Infinite Stratos: The Iron-Blooded Devil**

Chapter 2: The Return Home Part 2

Just after I hit the ground, I swung my sword-mace right into the black IS; sending her flying. The two girls she was wailing on were scooped up by a third girl in an orange machine. The IS version of the Barbatos felt great with hardly much of difference aside from the obvious. I kept my attention on the black one as she picked herself up and demanded who I was.

My name is Ichika Orimura and I'm a proud member of Tekkadan.

I think this whole mess started during the second Mondo Grosso. Some group, I don't know who, kidnapped me and blackmailed my sister, Chifuyu, to drop out of the finals; why that, I don't know. One of them had an Infinite Stratos, or IS for short, with them; my guess was for added security. It apparently wasn't enough as later on, I could hear someone tearing through the guards like paper; Chifuyu no doubt. The kidnapper IS was the last line of defense for my rescue. The two fought but Chifuyu was known as the 'strongest woman in the world' for a very good reason; something the kidnapper learned the hard way when sis managed to deplete her shields and gave a good size slash across the back. Unfortunately, she was also a sore loser and drew some kind of beam cannon. She got off two shots, both misses, before it happened: the spot where Chifuyu slashed was also where the core was kept. The plating fell off, allowing it get loose and roll between me and the kidnapper; it was also there that I saw that sis had managed to slash the core, too. It sparked a few times before some kind of field burst out of it around me and the kidnapper. The last thing I saw before blacking out was Chifuyu reaching out to me.

When I came to, nothing looked familiar. The ground seemed like a desert and it had a red tint to it. Not too far away was the IS core but it seemed inoperable. I stashed it away before I saw a truck approaching; it was also around this time that kidnapper IS pilot came to and she was not happy. Luckily, without a core; her IS was useless and the people driving up could help me get home. However, once they stepped out of the truck, and the fact that they didn't look the least bit friendly; staying with the kidnapper was looking far more appealing. I tried to run away but they easily caught me before moving on to the IS pilot. They made me watch as they pulled her out of the damaged IS, rip off her clothes and violate her right there before they threw her and me in the back with other women and children, I overheard them talking about selling off the IS yet from their words, it sounded like they didn't know what it was; it wasn't until later I had come to learn I was on Mars. Not long after, I was sold off as human debris to Chryse Guard Security. I must've been the youngest among the other debris they bought. As soon as they brought us in, they put us on a table to implant the Alaya-Vijnana system; bastards didn't even give me anesthetic. Three times they put it in me, something about wanting to replicate what one kid did and how much his performance was enhanced. Out of the seven they brought in, I was the only one to survive; the others couldn't handle the pain or it simply didn't work on them.

For three years, I was forced to be an expendable child soldier; I had some friends in the other kids they had. I learned what I could about this world that was so different from what I remember. It soon became clear that I had come to another world, something normally only happens in comic books but had somehow happened to me. I did what I could not to stand out; the adults in First Corps liked to kick us around if we are "insubordinate" or just for the fun of it. They would make us do the most dangerous stuff with little protection or use us as cannon fodder. And yet in those three years, I managed to survive; whether it was out of quick thinking, sheer willpower or just plain dumb luck. It was also in those three years that I killed my first man, they say you never forget but there are times I wish I could.

It wasn't until one fateful day where everything changed, where I had newfound hope that maybe if I kept holding on, I could find a way back home… to Chifuyu….to Houki…. That day was marked when I came know two names: Kudelia Aina Bernstein and Gundam Barbatos.

It was supposed to be a simple escort mission; take her to Earth for an assembly meeting and come back. But it became anything but simple when we were suddenly attacked by the so-called peacekeepers of the world, Gjallarhorn; who had come to assassinate Bernstein. The first wave was mobile workers, tank-like vehicles, that continuously shelled us but we managed to hold the line with our own but it all went sideways when they came out with mobile suits, machines that were ten times the size and power of an IS without the women only glitch. We lost a number of friends, including Danji, my best friend that I made in this hell. It all seemed hopeless when one of them started going after Orga, our field commander, until Mikazuki, the other kid with 3 Alaya-Vijnana implants, came back but with a mobile suit of his own; the Barbatos. He mopped the floor with them before they retreated. After which, First corps came back after they had abandoned us to save their own skins and the company president had just disappeared with a large chunk of the CGS' money. It was at this point, we had had enough and staged a mutiny. Shortly after kicking them out and discovering a major financial issue, one of Gjallarhorn attackers came for a duel to the death against Mikazuki; during which Orga had given us our new name.

The Iron Flower Brigade: Tekkadan. Because the Iron Flower never wilts and dies.

We had set off on our journey to Earth and it was NOT lacking any problems. First was another run in with Gjallarhorn but we managed to give them the slip. Next was a confrontation with the Turbines, a division of a group called Teiwaz. The fight was tough but we managed to impress them that their leader, Naze Turbine offered to take us to Teiwaz headquarters at Saisei to perform a Sakazuki, something I saw in a Yakuza movie. We were tasked to take a shipment to the Dort space colonies near Earth, during the trip, I had learned that the Turbines, save for Naze, were all women _and_ his wives. However, en route to Dort, we were attacked by the Brewers, a group of space pirates. First being transported to another world, with giant robots no less, meeting a man with an actual harem on a space ship and now space pirates; my life has officially become an anime.

We engaged them twice before coming out on top, I was a part of the assault force that raided their main ship. We lost a few guys and I was forced to put down some of their human debris. Akihiro, a former human debris like me, tried to get his little brother to go with him to Tekkadan but he was killed by one of the Brewers' mobile suit pilots. We took one of their ships, the surviving human debris and all their mobile suits; one of which turned out to be another Gundam Frame like the Barbatos while the others were known as Man Rodis. I had asked Orga if I could transfer to our growing mobile suit corps, if I was going to have to kill again, I'd at least prefer that I didn't see their faces when I do. He agreed and I took one of the Man Rodis we captured and modified for ground combat that is to come, bringing the number of suits we had up to four: me with the new Landman Rodi, Mika in the Barbatos, Akihiro in our new Gundam Gusion Rebake and Shino, a former member of third group, in a captured Graze he had customized and renamed Ryusei-Go… wow, that's a dumb name.

We managed to make it Dort without too many problems but got caught up in another mess between workers and their leaders, it soon turned ugly when fighting started to break out but we managed to get away and make it towards Earth. When I saw it again after three years, I almost shed a tear; I wondered if this what astronauts see whenever they're in space? Sadly, my sightseeing would have to wait as we ran into Gjallarhorn again but this seemed to be a different group than the ones we fought before; the Outer-Earth something or other, the name was too much of a mouthful. Eugene, Dante and Chad distracted them with our ships before turning around; unaware we had snuck away into a landing shuttle. Unfortunately, they caught on and we got in a fight during reentry; Akihiro, Shino and I latched on before it got too dangerous but Mika couldn't make it in time… he ended up using an enemy mobile suit as a makeshift heat shield.

We landed near the private island of Togonosuke Makanai, the man who was to meet with Kudelia. We thought this meant the job was complete but the old man pretty much blackmailed us into helping get to Edmonton so he could try to be re-elected as Prime Minister of Arbrau. Left with little choice, we accepted. We received aid from someone named Montag who supplied us with weapons and transport off the island; good thing, too, as those Outer-Earth people showed up again in the strangest way I had ever seen.

 _/Remember, we're the Outer-Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet!/ The lead Graze declared, striking a pose._

 _/We are perseverance and fortitudinous!/ the others said in unison, also striking a pose._

 _BANG!_ Akihiro had shot one of them in the head, knocking him down.

 _/It was…okay to shoot, right?/ Akihiro asked._

 _/Of course it was./ Mika had answered._

I had tried really hard not to laugh at that.

The fight started to get intense from there, we managed to get off the island but we lost Biscuit in the process. We secured a train through Teiwaz to take us to Edmonton in secret, barring another run in with that mouthy woman from the Outer-Earth thing again; we made it with days to spare. Unfortunately, Gjallarhorn was expecting us and kept us at bay for three days; the mobile workers tried to puncture their front line while Mika, Akihiro, Azee, Lafter, Shino and I fought off their mobile suits from the rear. It was becoming a war of attrition and on the day of the election, we were getting desperate. We couldn't bring our mobile suits into the city since the Ahab reactors would jam everything; that would send the wrong message and Makanai would surely fail to get elected.

The river had drained enough to allow a mobile worker to cross and we devised a strategy, however, Gjallarhorn dropped some kind of super-sized Graze mobile suit on us. It made short work of us, save for Akihiro and Mika; they were busy with other troops. The Graze, the two Rouei and my Landman Rodi were totaled but I managed to stab my mobile suit's katana in its back where it couldn't reach; it didn't deal any significant damage but it did give Mika a weapon to finish it off. Mika had pushed Barbatos to its limits and in turn lost feeling in his arm and vision in his right eye. Makanai managed to make it to parliament in time and win the election; bringing Tekkadan's first big job to successful end.

* * *

Two years had passed since Edmonton. Tekkadan had grown since then with new members and a new Earth-based branch, becoming a Teiwaz subsidiary and Arbrau's Makanai had commissioned us to be military advisors, earning quite a bit of rivals. The base was attacked every now and then by the more brazen ones; one such time was the remnants of First Corps, guess they were jealous at how far Tekkadan had come after we took over. Mika was away and Akihiro was alone against their decent number of mobile suits. The only other suit we had left was the Barbatos with that sword I used in Edmonton. I wasted no time jumping in and joining Akihiro in taking them down, the used swarming tactics and did some serious damage to the Gundam Frames but we still came out on top. Barbatos and Gusion were wrecked pretty bad but Mika's reputation as the "Devil of Tekkadan" had been strengthened with that battle, even though only we knew he wasn't even in that fight. In a way; I too became the Devil of Tekkadan. Speaking of which, I had to go face him about what I did to his partner. I found Mikazuki in Barbatos' old hanger when it was just used as an oversized battery.

"Please forgive me!" I said with a bow.

Mika stared at me in confusion.

"I know I shouldn't have but I wanted to protect everyone at the base and used it without asking first; now the Barbatos looks like it got in a fight with a trash compactor because of me. I'll understand if you hate me for it."

"You don't need to apologize, Ichika."

I looked up at him, stunned.

"Orga filled me in, you took Barbatos while I was away. You weren't sure if I'd make it back in time so you decided to fight them yourself."

"Well, yeah but aren't you upset?"

He took out a Mars palm and held it for a bit, usually, he just pops it in his mouth.

"You know, I sometimes get a little uneasy when I'm away from here. If I'm not here when they might need me, I feel as though I abandoned them. It might make me feel easier if someone was here watching over them, someone who could pilot Barbatos when I can't."

I couldn't believe what he was implying. Instead of being mad for wrecking his partner, I was unofficially made Barbatos' back up pilot. Not only that, Orga, under Mika's suggestion, made me the captain of the first unit along with Akihiro's second unit and Shino's third unit with Mika as the Commando unit leader.

Because of the fight, it was sent back to Saisei for another overhaul. It wasn't until a month later, when the Dawn Horizon Corps attacked the base; did Mika come back with it only now it was the Barbatos Lupus.

We started a new kind of strategy; whenever Barbatos came in to resupply, Mika and I would switch as pilots; our fighting styles had become so similar that no one could distinguish one from the other. It was particularly effective against the Dawn Horizon corps in space; cementing the 'Devil of Tekkadan' legend further. Even Orga liked the idea, Ms. Merribet commented how it would cut down on pilot exhaustion and would make the enemy think we were tireless; psychological warfare at its finest. It soon became preferred practice for everyone.

Things got bad on Earth when a bomb went off in parliament, putting Makanai and Chad into a coma. A potential war was on the brink between Arbrau and the SAU as a result of the bombing, Takaki had taken command and things seemed under control but there was something fishy going on. Despite all assurances from the Earth branch, we rushed out as fast as we could before it got out of hand; we managed to get there before McGillis Fareed, our ally in Gjallarhorn, could be killed but we lost Aston, Akihiro adopted brother. We tracked down the mastermind behind this, Galan Mossa, and the one who had been feeding us false information, one of our own; Radice Riloto. Akihiro chased down Mossa but the bastard blew himself up before we could get anything. Radice, on the other hand, was easy to find and detain. We found that he was the one who planted the bomb and thought that we were too naïve to think to suspect him before he made off with a large sum of money. He learned the hard way of what it means to betray those who welcomed you like family; and when I didn't bat an eye at the man getting what he deserved, I wondered if I had become desensitized by all the violence now in my life.

We had folded the Earth branch and returned to Mars, along the way; I had overheard that we found another Gundam Frame in the new Half-Metal mine we're operating along with some other machine and something else still buried. Shino immediately called dibs on the new Gundam and it and the smaller mech was sent to Saisei for an overhaul and examination respectively. It wasn't until later that McGillis Fareed had informed us that we may have stumbled upon something dangerous and ask that we clear out the mine of personnel for safety. We had uncovered a powerful machine called a Mobile Armor; that's what Fareed told us before heading out with Orga and the others to the site. It and others like it was responsible for the Calamity War 300 years ago; wiping out 1/4th of the entire human population, kinda scary knowing you were right near such a monster. I was put on stand-by with the Barbatos, just in case. Sadly, some idiot, despite all the warnings, got too close and reactivated it; allowing it to resume its rampage. It attacked the Gjallarhorn base for supplies and repaired itself before heading for the nearest populated area: Chryse City.

The plan was to lure it into an enclosed area, separate it from its Pluma support units and take it down. Akihiro's unit tracked down the Mobile Armor into a canyon leading to Chryse, a perfect spot to ambush it or at least it was until it changed course when it was attacked by the dumb shit who woke it up in the first place; sending it towards the agricultural plant. I hopped into Barbatos to intercept while the second unit tried to get its attention back on course. Ride tried to block the thing's beam cannon but it splashed off the nanolaminate armor and hit anyway. The Plumas were swarming him when I arrived and took them out, much to his relief.

Now, it was my turn to take this monster on.

However, Barbatos started acting strange; like it was eager, like a hungry predator. The moment the Mobile Armor was almost in range, it felt like someone just kicked me in the face through the Alaya-Vijnana. I fought through the pain but Barbatos wouldn't move and I kept seeing [ALAYA-VIJNANA SYSTEM: SAFE MODE ACTIVATED;] something in Barbatos was fighting with it. I couldn't take much more and cut my connection. Akihiro tried to attack it but the same thing happened to him; knocking him out cold. Why was it that other mobile suits had no issue but our two Gundam Frames stalled if they got too close? I soon learned that they were made 300 years ago specifically to take down Mobile Armors through combined use of the Alaya-Vijnana and the mobile suit's power, however, to do that; the Gundams needed the two output limiters turned off to go all out to do the job, which would harm the pilot as a result. I was sent back to base with Ride, still dizzy from the system punch while Mika took Barbatos to fight the Mobile Armor… but the cost to him was…he wouldn't let anyone him stop him. The Barbatos Lupus returned to Saisei for another overhaul.

After the battle I learned Shino finally had a Gundam to call his own. He wanted to call it "Ryusei-Go IV." At this point; I couldn't take it anymore. I told him that it was a dumb name; that the Flauros was named after a demon and therefore a much cooler name. We must've argued for a good hour until Shino made a compromise, a rather loose way to put it, and called it "Gundam Flauros Ryusei-Go;" the grounds of the new name being that our other Gundams had long names. I officially gave up with arguing with him.

Things had quieted down for a while but trouble soon came knocking when we heard the Turbines were accused of smuggling an illegal Dainsleif weapon. Naze told us to stay out of it but if we "just happened" to be in the area, no one could say anything if we were simply being good Samaritans and rescue the non-combatants. We saved a good deal of the crew but we couldn't save Naze and Amida. At his funeral, one of Teiwaz's underbosses crashed it and made an asshole of himself, like he was trying to piss us off. When he had Lafter, I girl who reminded me of Chifuyu in so many ways, killed; he succeeded and he was gonna wish he hadn't!

The battle was intense, but despite the numbers disadvantage, were winning. The new Barbatos Lupus Rex was making short work of them, like swatting flies. Every time I smashed one of their mobile suits, I thought the pain would lessen…that I would feel better…when Mika and I switched and he dealt the final blow… I would be happy…but I didn't. I was once told revenge leaves you with nothing but emptiness…

They were right.

To fight our last battle, we had to sever ties with Teiwaz and join up with Fareed for his coup within Gjallarhorn; to do that, he needed to gain control of their most coveted treasure: a Gundam Frame, Bael. Though we took their headquarters, there was still one more obstacle: the Arianrhod fleet led by Rustal Elion. We took the battle to space where they hit us hard but we kept pushing, I couldn't even switch with Mika, they were pressuring him so hard; until they suddenly retreated in the middle of the fight. We soon learned why when one of Elion's had snuck over to our side and made it look like we were willing to use the illegal weapon by firing right at them. They "responded" by unleashing a barrage onto us. Things were looking grim until Shino tried one last trick on Elion with the Hotarubi and the Flauros (I am NOT calling it the Ryusei-Go.) I instantly had a bad feeling and stole one of the Shidens to go after him. His plan involved using the Flauros to fire at the flagship to take out Elion but a new mobile suit threw his aim off and he missed. The enemy ships open fired on him but I managed to pull his ass out of that fire; the Flauros was damaged but still combat capable which was more than I could say for the Shiden I stole. The Hotarubi soon exploded, releasing a nano-mirror chaff to cover our escape.

Now we were back on Mars, licking our wounds. Just when we thought things couldn't get worse, our assets were frozen, our communications were cut, and we found ourselves surrounded by Gjallarhorn mobile suits. Orga tried to broker a deal with Elion to hand over Fareed but that asshole was going wipe us out anyway and make an example of us. To top it off, I overheard Mika, Atra and Kudelia talking that Atra was pregnant. Some hope came when we found an old underground tunnel that led into Chryse; it was collapsed a bit so it would take some time to dig out. Orga, Kudelia, Atra, Chad, and Ride planned to sneak in in order to get in touch with Makanai to get us new identities but the problem was getting through that blockade. Fareed volunteered to distract them with Bael while they made for the city then he took off to who knows where. It was hours later that we heard from Ride about Gjallarhorn's plans, Makanai's agreement for new identities and our escape from Mars but we also learned…. Orga was shot. His last orders were "to keep living and don't ever stop."

Everyone was hit hard, but Mika managed to rally them together to follow Orga's wishes; we had a destination, we had an escape plan, now we just needed a battle plan and I had one. I approached old man Yukinojo while they were working on our mobile suits.

"Yukinojo, I need you to focus on repairs and ammo to the Gundam Frames, use parts from our other mobile suits if you have to."

"What?!" the old man looked at me shocked.

"Then get everyone to the tunnel."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" I must sound like I've gone insane.

"We'll use the Gundam frames to hold off the assault force while everyone escapes, they're tougher than even modern mobile suits so they alone should be enough."

"Only three against all of that? That's insane!" his shouting drew everyone's attention.

"We only have hours before the fighting starts, it'll take less time to work on three mobile suits than all of them. This'll keep casualties to a minimum. The enemy will think whatever resources we have are out."

"Ichika, you'd be outnumbered 100 to 1," Eugene added, "What makes you think you could win something like that?"

"We don't have to win, just stall them. When everyone is clear, we rush back and blow the place; make them think we went out on our own terms."

"It's still insane!"

"It may be our best bet," Mika said, Hush carrying him in before setting him down on the ground, "Orga said for all of us to keep living and to let anyone else die would be disobeying that order. Barbatos will get the job done, I know it. It's okay, old man, go along with what Ichika said."

Yukinojo looked reluctant but nodded before shouting at the maintenance crew to get to work. Everyone either helped out with the mobile suits or dig out the tunnel. Yukinojo and the crew worked through the night to get our Gundam Frames ready while we set up the charges for the base.

It was almost noon, I met up with Mikazuki, Dante, Akihiro, Shino and Eugene in the barracks; I told Hush to help out with the tunnel. Some were still there grabbing any kind of memento

"You sure this is a good idea?" Akihiro asked me.

"It's the only idea I got."

"I still think it's insane," Eugene grumbled.

"We'll get the job done, our last job," Shino added.

"Yeah, let's get going," Mika reached out to be picked up by someone.

" _You're_ not doing anything."

Everyone looked at me shocked and confused.

"Atra's waiting for you; her and your kid. I'll be piloting Barbatos."

"How can I do anything for them if I can't move half my body?" he asked with a rare amount of frustration.

"Mika, just being there, alive, is enough for the both of them. Take it from someone who was abandoned by their parents, a child being with his parents; in both good and hard times, is special. As for me, by all accounts; I don't exist in this world. It's better for some nobody from out of nowhere to go down fighting than someone who has loved ones waiting for them."

"That doesn't answer my question. All I know how to do well is fight. How am I supposed to take care of them if I can't even do that?" he asked me again, anger starting to boil within him.

"You'll figure something out," I responded along with a well-placed punch; knocking him out cold.

I then picked up and handed Mikazuki to Dante.

"Get him out of here."

He gave a stunned nod before carrying him off with the others following. I then told Akihiro and Shino to get ready, I'd be with them shortly.

After everyone had left the barracks to make for the tunnel, something caught my eye. The IS core that brought me here. In a way, this little black ball is the reason I'm in this mess in the first place. And yet I kept it but for what? As a memento? A good luck charm? I once thought that if it could bring me here, it could also send me home… but after five years… I realized I was fooling myself. The battle was going to begin soon, I had better get to the hanger. Maybe this will give me _some_ good luck and we'll get through this alive.

Gjallarhorn began with a missile barrage from their mobile workers, we left decoy workers on the field to draw their attention. Akihiro and I charged forward, Shino providing some covering fire. I smashed one Graze then clawed another's head of and threw him at his comrades. It wasn't long before I lost track of how long the battle had been; I had just smashed another Graze and Akihiro just crushed one before throwing him into another. Shino took one of their axes and cleaved into the cockpit and fired another volley at two more. I smashed another two, sending them flying, I think I was getting why Mika liked to use clubbing weapons like this mace so much. I drove the tail blade into another Graze and slammed the mace down into a second, I bashed another aside and stabbed another with the tail trying to sneak up on me; I rushed up another from behind and batted him down. I then get something on the LCS then looked towards the Gusion.

"Guys, I got a message from Yukinojo saying that the tunnel is clear and they are evacuating. The first ones are about to reach Chryse."

Akihiro: _/Good to hear./_

I saw Akihiro cleave into another Graze before knocking another down. We soon grouped up, Gusion on my left, Flauros on my right.

"You guys should go, too."

Akihiro: _/Yeah right, you honestly think we could leave you here?/_

Shino: _/If one of us goes, we all go./_

I smiled at their tough acts.

"Then don't get in my way."

Akihiro: _/Cocky little punk. I won't carry you out when this is over./_

Shino: _/And before we go, we'll make sure they remember who we are./_

Gusion then brandished its halberd menacingly.

Akihiro: _/Akihiro Altland. Gundam Gusion Rebake Full City!/_

Flauros did the same with the combat knife in one hand and the machine gun in the other.

Shino: _/Norba Shino. Gundam Flauros Ryusei-Go!/_

I figured I should join in with a flourish of the ultra large mace.

"Ichika Orimura. Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex!"

And then as one…

"/ _ **Let's go!**_ /"

More Grazes charged at us, I met them halfway by smashing one then another then jabbing a third with mace; I whipped around launched the tail blade into a fourth and swung him around like a hammer throw before letting him crash into another… how many have we taken down now? However many, fear seemed to be getting to them as one tried to escape but Akihiro put an end to that. Their numbers seemed to be endless; I just swatted another Graze then back handed another. If we can hold out a little longer, we can-

Wait, why are they suddenly retreating?

 **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!**

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Wha-what the hell was that?

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Did they fire Dainsleif at us? From orbit?

I grabbed the controls and pushed Barbatos back up.

"Hey, you guys alive?" I managed to rasp out.

Akihiro: _/Yeah. Somehow./_

Shino: _/I'm not going down that easy./_

I could hear the strain in their voices, they were hardly better off than I was.

Akihiro: _/Guess we have no choice. Let's live till we die… and carry out our orders!/_

I saw a Graze go right for the Gusion.

Shino: _/You're right. We can't stop now./_

Flauros then charged at a few Grazes headed for him. I got Barbatos on his feet just as I turned off the safety limiter; no sense worrying about it now.

"C'mon Barbatos, you don't wanna stop yet, do you?

It sounded like it let out demonic howl in response.

"Alright…let's put the fear of God into 'em!" I said with a grin. Somehow; I felt like I must've looked psychotic.

I charged at the nearest Graze, circling around him then slashing through the cockpit. After he was done, I went for a group. I knocked one into the air before I used the tail blade to impale it then took his axe and drove it into another. A third tried to back away but I caught up with him and drove Barbatos' sole arm into the chest; I ripped out and crushed the cockpit like an overripe tomato. I turned to face the next one but ended up receiving three axes right in the chest; that wasn't gonna stop me. They wanted a devil, I'll give them a devil! I used the tail to knock two of them off before I jumped down between the three that hit me with those axes and swing the tail blade around. I was suddenly blindsided by that new Gjallarhorn mobile suit, that annoying woman's voice on the LCS; telling them that she would take me. Too bad I already got those three before she hit me.

I charged again with my claws, taking her shoulder armor off, she in turn struck me with her sword to which I her with the tail blade and backed off as she fired her gun. She yelled at me, questioning as to why I continue to fight for no purpose. An image of _her_ appeared in my thoughts.

"No purpose? You're wrong… I fight for the most pure and simplest purpose…"

I saw more Grazes charging in and was soon on them as if they were lambs to the slaughter. I cleaved the first in half rather easily.

"…My family is waiting for me… _she's_ waiting for me..."

The second tried to throw his axe but I took the arm off with the tail before stomping and throwing him at a third; running them through with the tail blade.

"…Waiting for me… to come back to her…"

I was starting to get lightheaded a little as I tore out the fourth one's cockpit and crushed it; the machine's head was still attached.

"…That has always been my reason to keep on fighting…"

I turned Barbatos towards her again only to get hit by a number of shots from her cannon. I lashed out with the tail and took out her gun.

"…I won't stop until I see her again."

The new mobile suit readied her sword. She then charged forward and swung the blade, no doubt aiming at my cockpit.

Julieta: _/Then I am sorry because whoever you're talking about will not get that chance. With your death, no one will ever doubt Gjallarhorn as a force of justice and peace to the world./_

I caught the sword before it could slash through; her words, while seemingly sincere and apologetic at first; were nothing but hypocritical.

"Gjallarhorn a force of justice and peace? What a crock of SHIT!"

I pulled the sword out of her hand, throwing her off balance. I remembered the Edmonton battle.

"All you care about is lining your own pockets!"

I punched it across the head unit; I remembered the Dort Colony massacre.

"And keeping people under your thumb!"

Followed up with a backhand. I remembered the merciless and underhanded attack on the Turbines.

"You got no principles!"

I punched again, this time in the chest near the cockpit.

"Just like your master!"

And finished with a strong kick, sending to the ground.

"Gjallarhorn is diseased, rotten to the core. A heap of garbage."

The Reginlaze managed to get back on its feet yet its posture seem to indicate the pilot was anything but calm.

"And you're just another maggot crawling in the pile!"

That seemed to set her off when she suddenly charged forward at me.

Julieta: _/You lowly dog! Die for the glory of master Rust-/_

That was a mistake. A fact I made apparent to her when I drove the Gundam's claws right into the cockpit.

"And I'm sick of hearing you talk."

With a flick, I made Barbatos crush the little bitch inside. I managed to catch sight of the Grazes surrounding me to back away until one signaled the others. I think they must be preparing another orbital bombardment; they certainly had enough time.

"Akihiro? Shino?"

No response. I looked over towards their Gundams only to find they've been turned into pin cushions.

"Come on guys, don't tell me you're dead, too."

I could see the Gjallarhorn mobile suits clearing the area of the incoming attack yet Barbatos was egging me on to continue. Instead, I got as close to Gusion and Flauros as I could, something that wasn't exactly easy since Barbatos' hand was stuck inside the bitch's Reginlaze; even dead, she's a pain in my ass. My vision was getting blurry, I was starting to feel very cold, my breathing was getting shallow; signs that showed I had lost a lot of blood. The world seem to go on in slow motion now. Everything seemed quiet despite the Dainsleif second volley about to hit. I guess this was it…

I'm gonna die here.

My mind drifted back to a handful of people as my consciousness was slipping away. And I think I was starting to hallucinate.

Dan Gotanda, I wonder if he ever got it in him to approach Rin.

A light filled the cockpit.

Tabane, that genius lunatic who created the IS.

It stopped and it felt like I was falling, the Alaya-Vijnana disconnected from my back.

My big sister Chifuyu, I'm sorry. I wasn't able to come home like I promised.

Someone caught me but my vision was too blurry to make out who.

One last name passed through my mind before everything went dark; Someone I desperately wanted one last chance to see.

"Houki…"

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 _Beep_

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 _Beep_

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 _Beep_

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 _Beep_

What is that?

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What's that sound?

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 _Beep_

It's annoying.

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Wait

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That kinda sounds like…

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 _Beep_

… a heart moniter!

It took a lot of effort to open my eyes, I waited until my vision could focus properly. From the looks of the ceiling, I was in some kind of high-tech facility like Gjallarhorn has. Despite the pain, I managed to turn my head to the source of the annoying beeping and found several pieces of medical equipment. However, it seemed dated compared to the equipment I had become accustomed to for the past five years. This place looks like a warehouse or something. The things I was hooked up to seemed out of place given the surroundings and I could actually see the battered wreck of the Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex, still missing its arm and now its chest armor and head, at the far end wall; no medical facility would allow a war machine inside their- wait a minute, how'd they get Barbatos inside of here, anyway? Come to think of it, why does it look…smaller?

"Ichika"

I felt someone squeezing my hand just as heard a very familiar voice; one I hadn't heard in a very long time. But it couldn't be. I mustered whatever strength I had left to turn to the other side but I couldn't believe what I saw.

"Chifuyu?"

She had a small smile as tears fell from her eyes, as if she was trying not to break down right then and there. Or was I the one having a breakdown?

"Am I dreaming?"

"No"

"Am I dead?"

"No"

"Then this is real….I'm back."

She ran a hand across my cheek. What she said next made the last five years all worth the hell.

"You're home."

* * *

(End POV and back to present)

While the Gundam had his attention on the stands, Laura got back to her feet and charged at the white machine, right beam saber ignited. Before anyone could warn him, Ichika easily sidestepped and grabbed the offending arm before throwing it and its owner across the field. The German girl righted herself and spun around for another attack. Barbatos shifted into a ready stance.

 _/Alright, that's enough,/_ Chifuyu's voice came over the loudspeaker. _/Save it for the tournament. You can fight all you want then./_

"If those are your orders, mentor," Bodewig replied before dismissing Schwarzer Regan; "I will allow you to escape this time but I will crush you. Take whatever time you have left to say your goodbyes."

The silver-haired German then walked away. Ichika snorted at her arrogance then flew up towards the open launch bay only to find Chifuyu waiting for him. Once his feet touched the ground, light enveloped the Gundam and disappeared; leaving Ichika in its place. He was wearing the typical pants he wore in Tekkadan but instead of shirtless like usual, he was now sporting a long sleeved dark gray shirt with the Alaya-Vijnana connector port dome attached to the back and his Tekkadan jacket was tied around his waist; he untied the sleeves and threw on his jacket.

"Hell of an entrance, kid."

"I got the idea from a friend."

"He had the idea to jump out of a plane to land on a battlefield?"

"No, out of a shuttle in reentry. Barbatos broke down when he did that."

"…Your friend sounds rather reckless," Chifuyu said flatly.

"Yeah, he kinda was," Ichika replied with a sweatdrop.

"Ichika!" a new voice came from the entrance.

The Orimura siblings turned to the source, there stood the younger Shinonono sister; out of breath and her eyes locked on her long-lost childhood friend. Though it had been six years, Ichika instantly recognized the face.

"Houki," he said with a small smile.

That was all the confirmation she needed as she sprinted towards the two before throwing her arms around Ichika.

* * *

 **A/N: HO-LY SHIT! Did this take me forever! I've been slammed at work for the Thanksgiving holiday so I worked on this whenever I could. The main reason was trying to do a summary of IBO from Ichika's POV. I'm surprised at how well-received this was and I hope you enjoyed this story.**

 **P.S. little fun fact, this chapter and chapter one were switched; this was original gonna be the first chapter but I thought the other would work better (and I essentially got it done first.)**


	3. Reunion

"Speech"

" _Flashback Speech"_

 _/Speech over communication tech/_

 **Infinite Stratos: The Iron-Blooded Devil**

Chapter 3: Reunion

When the IS had made its combat capabilities apparent 6 years ago, it should have been no surprise that an Infinite Stratos Regulatory Committee was established to ensure the Alaska Treaty was upheld and public safety was prioritized. However, in recent times, the belief of female superiority that had followed with the IS had bled into the committee. It was another beautiful morning for the committee chairwoman, one Mieko Kobayashi. She began with her normal office routine: a hot cup of coffee, a warm croissant, throwing another pile of complaints into the trash; it was shaping up to be another day. That is until she got a call from her daughter, a student at IS Academy and representative contender of Japan (thanks in no small part to her connections,) saying to turn on the news.

When she did, the first thing she saw was the headline: "A Male IS Pilot?" along with footage of a white, full-armor IS dropping into the field and batting away a black IS. It then cut away to the picture of a teenage boy along with a photo of a younger version of him and his name: Ichika Orimura. The newscaster went on about how he was believed dead five years ago during the Mondo Grosso and that he is the younger brother of Chifuyu Orimura, the first Brunhilde and the strongest woman in the world.

Looks like she's gonna have to take a little trip to IS Academy soon.

* * *

Houki held her long-lost childhood friend tightly, slightly afraid that if she let go; he would disappear again.

"Ichika… I thought…I thought you were dead," she sniffled into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry for putting you through that," Ichika said softly as he held her to comfort the girl.

Off to the side, the elder Orimura sibling watched the two reunited childhood friends hug after years apart. Her mind drifted back to a similar scenario a month back:

(Flashback)

Chifuyu was going over the number of ways she was going to maim one pink-haired scientist as she approached the hideaway said scientist led her to. The door opened and allowed her in; she passed by an area that seemed to be blacked out with non-working robots. She slammed the door to the main area open and glared at the woman in the room, standing in front of a large curtain. She growled as she stalked over and cracked her knuckles.

" _You got a lot of nerve calling me here after everything you've done."_

The elder Shinonono said nothing as the first Brunhilde took in Tabane's state of appearance. Her eyes had dark rings around them and seemed a little sunken, her face was a bit gaunt, clothes were disheveled and dirty; this woman hadn't eaten, slept or, if the smell was anything to go by, bathed in days. She put that out of her mind as she continued towards the soon to be corpse.

" _Got anything to say before I rip you in half?"_

Tabane remained silent as she suddenly yanked open the curtain behind her. Chifuyu gave a quick glance and almost went back to letting Tabane have it but she looked back. It was a teenage boy, wrapped in medical gauze and hooked up to life support and monitoring equipment. For some reason, she felt compelled to approach this boy; feeling as if she knew him. She passed Tabane, who had remained where she was, while she looked the boy over. A lot of his body was bandaged up with splotches of blood that appeared to be seeping through or covered by the blanket but what parts were visible showed he had a well-toned physique, something she knew a lot of girls would drool over. She turned to the boy's face, the forehead was wrapped up with some gauze on his cheek. She brushed a few strands of hair out of the way to get a better look at his face, it was quite handsome and really familiar. In fact, if he was still alive, she would swear that…. Her breath hitched in her throat and her eyes widened. No, it couldn't be.

" _Left hand."_

Chifuyu glanced back at the IS inventor.

" _On his left hand, there's an old scar."_

She turned said hand up and indeed, there was a scar. It was one she knew from the past when Ichika had first held a real sword, she had given him a lecture about how he had to swing the sword and not let it swing him. He had tried to put it back but like an idiot, he grabbed it by the blade and gave himself a shallow cut. It had healed but still left a rather noticeable scar. After five years, it had faded considerably but it was still there and still recognizable. Chifuyu looked back to the boy's face, then to the hand, back and forth a few times; her own hand wrapping around his as realization dawned on her.

This boy was Ichika, he was alive.

Her heart sank, her legs buckled, her breath became short, her eyes began to water and then she began to sob… she had her baby brother back.

Behind the reunited Orimura siblings, Tabane kept her silence as her old friend cried her heart out. Chifuyu must've cried for a good hour or two before she managed to calm down. Whatever anger she had faded upon this new revelation. She joined the IS inventor at her desk as she typed away at something on the computer terminal.

" _Why didn't you get him to a hospital?"_

" _I didn't have time; he lost so much blood that he was practically at death's door. And you and I both know I had a better chance at saving him."_

Chifuyu couldn't deny that statement. Tabane then stood and walked towards another curtain with some cylindrical devices around it.

" _How bad was it?"_

" _I had to fix a lot of damaged cerebral nerves otherwise he was going to be paralyzed in some parts of his body. He had a lot of shrapnel in him that I had to remove, too."_

" _From what?"_

" _Most likely? From this thing,"_ she pulled the curtain away to reveal the damaged Barbatos. Chifuyu picked up the damaged head, now helmet, and ran a finger across the unbroken side of the crest.

" _An IS?"_

" _I'm not sure. I ran a scan; it doesn't have an IS core and its frame and armor are made of materials I've never seen before."_

Chifuyu glanced at Tabane questioningly as she continued; plugging some cables into the machine.

" _The frame is composed of a metal that's as strong as tungsten, as hard as diamond and dense as osmium but it seems it's naturally occurring rather than chemically altered and it seems to be much lighter. And the armor is coated with a metallic paint with a multi-layered molecular arrangement that's been vacuum deposited on. At first glance the armor seems hard, but in principle it's like a very thin cushion with several layers. I ran a few tests on a shard and it seems capable of rendering beam weaponry ineffective by diffusing and deflecting the fired beam, minimizing the damage done. I dare say it can even handle physical attacks due to its energy bearing molecules with minimal damage."_

The two walked back to the desk terminal.

" _In short, it's basically a walking tank, right?"_

" _Tank' is selling it short. An IS couldn't take the kind of punishment this thing likely could."_

" _If that's true then what put it in that sorry state?"_

" _I'm afraid only Ichika knows that. We can ask when he wakes up."_

" _I'm a little concerned what he might say. Since you said it doesn't have an IS core, what does it run on?"_

" _I'm accessing its systems now."_

While Tabane got to work, Chifuyu noticed something on the table next to the chair; a .22 Magnum. The hammer was pulled back, indicating it was ready for use. She checked the chamber… only one round. Behind the chair was a number of empty bottles for varying hard liquors. These combined with Tabane's current appearance led Chifuyu to realize that if Ichika hadn't turned up so suddenly as he did, this meeting would have been very different. She tried to distance herself from such thoughts when she took note that Tabane and her equipment were set up on the other end of the facility, as far away from the wrecked machine as possible.

" _Why are we doing this so far away from it?"_

" _Because it emits some kind of radiation that knocks out a number of electronic systems. It's harmless to us but it jams precious equipment; it's why Ichika is over here while that thing is on the other side. I have a special filter around it that reduces the range but it is still potent. I'm in."_

The screen brought up a strange looking sigil, like a magic circle before data began filling the space. Chifuyu leaned in closer to the screen.

" _ASW-G-08… Gun-dam… Frame type B-Bar…Baro-bay-toes…?"_

" _Barbatos. Barbatos Lupus Rex to be exact."_

" _You know anything about it?"_

" _I know 'Barbatos' was a demon appearing in the Ars Goetia in the Key of Solomon, the circle we saw is his; while 'Lupus' and 'Rex' are Latin for 'Wolf' and 'King' respectfully."_

" _Other than its name, what else did you find?"_

" _Its power source from the looks of it; two devices called 'Ahab Reactors."_

Tabane studied the screen for a bit before exclaiming _"Amazing!"_

" _What is it?"_

" _If I'm reading this right, these babies generate enormous amounts of energy through transforming artificially generated vacuum elements. It's a perpetual energy source! I've been trying to do the same thing with the IS cores but kept hitting a roadblock. Whoever made this thing figured it out before me. I salute you, sir! Ooh, if I could apply the technology from this machine, the possibilities are ENDLESS!"_

" _Tabane. Focus."_

" _Sorry, I got excited."_

Chifuyu couldn't help smile a little at her estranged friend having her old passion relit. Maybe she had been holding this grudge a little too long and she _did_ find her thought-dead brother; nursing him back to health. Perhaps it was time to reconcile.

" _Alaya-Vijnana?"_

" _A la- what now?"_

" _It's listed as an interface system."_

Tabane hopped to her feet then dashed over to the wrecked machine; staring intently at where the pilot would be and noting some kind of device. She climbed into the cockpit as much as she could and felt the device poking her in the spine.

" _Right in the back, I wonder if it has anything to do with those things."_

" _What things?"_ Chifuyu asked as Tabane returned to the computer side of the building.

" _Ichika had three protrusions in his back, I couldn't remove them because they're fused to his spinal cord. Judging by the bone growth and the skin developed over them, he must've had them for a while now."_

A small robot then approached the two.

" _Pardon the interruption, mistress. The patient is regaining consciousness"_

Chifuyu immediately rushed to her brother's side.

When he regained enough strength, Ichika filled them in on what happened to him over the past five years. At first, it sounded too crazy to be real but Barbatos' very existence and the data on its combat recorder made her a believer. Chifuyu felt a great deal of emotions with every part, anger and horror of hearing how he was forced to get the Alaya-Vijnana system and spent three years as essentially an expendable slave child soldier, joy and relief at the friends he made within Tekkadan when they took over, wonder at the tales of taking on the space pirate groups of the Brewers and the Dawn Horizon Corps, remorse when he brought up friends who died, shock and concern when she saw the footage of him getting hit with the orbital bombardment and small hint of pride when he got back up and still tore them apart; with only one arm no less. When he told her of the nickname he shared with another, she thought it was a little silly but after seeing the combat data, she understood how he got it.

A debate came about for when Ichika was well enough to return home, Chifuyu didn't want him out of her sight for so long again, so she talked with him and Tabane to see if he could be fitted for an IS to be transferred to the academy. Unfortunately, Tabane hadn't been able to fix the "No Boys Allowed" glitch in the cores, due in part to Ichika's supposed death years ago. In fact, that was the very reason she stopped manufacturing the cores in the first place and hadn't touched anything IS-related since. Ichika, however, suggested to use the Gundam Frame as his machine as he was familiar with it and would get around the issues with the IS core. Chifuyu was a little hesitant about letting him back into something that was almost his coffin but their options were limited and Tabane, having regained a bit of her old spark back, wanted to study its technology.

During the time the elder Shinonono repaired the Barbatos, Ichika spent it recovering and catching up with his studies. While Chifuyu was disappointed at how far behind he was, she could understand that he had to prioritize survival over academics. Tabane had to create a means to reproduce the metal the Gundam's frame was made of and to reapply its Nanolaminate armor; Ichika helped where he could, having worked on Barbatos' maintenance when it was still a full-sized mobile suit. Within a month, the Gundam Frame was restored to full functionality; despite it still being a fraction of its original size. New weapons were designed and built with Ichika's input to suit his fighting style. Tabane installed a new Ahab Wave filtration system to eliminate the EMP effects of said waves, an Absolute Defense System that all IS are equipped with and a new pseudo-core processing unit to work in tandem with the Alaya-Vijnana.

A little snag arose when they had to figure out how to get Ichika into the academy. As it was a well-known fact only females could operate the IS, none of the officials would even entertain the idea, let alone give him a chance to try with the Gundam. And even on the off chance they did, it would become international news and would put a bullseye on his back, something Chifuyu forgot to factor in. Despite Ichika's assurance that he'd be fine and something like this was nothing new, the elder Orimura was still unsure. Tabane added that even if they don't, Ichika would take Barbatos anyway and it wouldn't be long before some self-absorbed IS pilot attacked him just for the fun of it, revealing the Gundam. Chifuyu had to concede to that; lately, the number of assaults against men by women, half of which were by IS pilots, was on the rise and the ISRC was just ignoring it. And, given Ichika's apparent combat history, if such a scenario occurred; _he_ would put _her_ in the hospital. As much as she didn't like it, Ichika was gonna have to make a spectacle of himself.

(Flashback end)

The initial plan was to "find" Ichika with the Barbatos during a transfer student's entrance exam, the arena was gonna be the testing grounds. Sadly, Bodewig crashed Huang and Alcott's training in the same arena that morning which led to the improvisation moments ago. Tabane leaked to the press and faculty about a surprise new student since they knew it would only be a matter of time before it got out to the public; might as well bite the bullet.

Speaking of which, they had better go and face the press after that show. She cleared her throat, grabbing the two's attention.

"I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up on but we might wanna take care of the vultures outside first," she said, thumbing at the door.

The two separated a little reluctantly at that.

"Hey, we'll talk later. I promise," Ichika said as he gave Houki's hand a gentle yet firm squeeze before turning to the door.

Chifuyu walked over to the younger Shinonono sister, "It'll be a bit but you'll get a chance to talk to him, he'll be your new roommate. I'm sure he's gonna tell you what happened to him and, as bizarre and surreal as it will sound, he's telling the truth. I didn't believe it at first either but the evidence I saw proved his story."

Houki blinked in confusion at that. Was what happened to Ichika really that outrageous?

The two Orimura siblings stepped out of the hanger and into a flurry of flashing camera bulbs and multiple questions. It was around that time that Houki had just processed one part of Chifuyu's statement:

' _He'll be your new roommate…roommate…_ _roommate_ _…_ _ **roommate**_ _…_ _ **ROOMMATE**_ _…'_

The young girl suddenly didn't know whether to be elated or mortified.

* * *

Classes carried on as usual for the rest of the day but the only thing anyone could talk about was Ichika and his strange IS. It carried on from morning all the way into the evening.

"Can you believe it? We have an actual boy attending school!"

"I heard he's Ms. Orimura's younger brother, I wonder if he's strong like her."

"What kind of IS does he use? I never seen one like that before."

"I read that he was reported to have died 5 years ago."

"Really, then where did he disappear to?"

"I think Shinonono knows him somehow."

"You mean she's already got a head start?"

Houki blushed a little at that last one; she got the feeling that this was gonna carry on for a while. She had decided to forgo Kendo today as she wanted to talk to Ichika as soon as possible and head back to the room. She paused a bit, wondering if Ichika was already there.

What happened to him? Where has he been? How much has he changed in the time everyone thought he was dead? What was that IS he used?

So many questions ran through her mind and yet, she knew standing here wasn't going to answer any of them.

* * *

Room 1025, the room she had been staying in since the year started; she had the room to herself up until now. Not that she disliked the quiet but not many students talk to her and only seem bring up her relation to Tabane. However, Ichika had returned and was gonna stay in the same room as her; part of her thought that it would be shameful for a teenage boy and girl to live in the same room while another believed that she had been given a second chance with Ichika and shouldn't get hung up on the minutia.

After a moment to collect herself, she calmly opened the door to find… no one. Was he still being held up by the reporters? An answer to that was the sound of the bathroom door being opened; she balked at the scene before her. There stood Ichika in the same pants from earlier and a towel draped around his neck and shoulders. She then grasped a few new things. In order: 1) He was shirtless. 2) He had very toned muscles… _very_ toned. 3) He had just gotten out of the shower, if his damp torso was anything to go by. 4) He had a number of faded and fresh scars. The first three made her face light up like a stoplight. The fourth one calmed that down a little but her embarrassment was replaced with shock and horror.

Ichika looked down at himself before pointing at one of his scars, "You wanna know how I got these, right?"

"Does it have to do with where you've been?" she asked.

He nodded then took a seat at the room's computer desk. Houki sat down at the adjacent seat, never taking her eyes off her childhood friend.

"Okay, what I'm about to tell you will probably make you think I'm making it up or gone crazy but, it's the honest truth."

Houki nodded, Chifuyu had given the same kind of forewarning earlier. He began with what happened during the Mondo Grosso and how he ended up on the planet Mars of another world entirely. How he was captured and sold off as human debris to the CGS, forced to get the Alaya-Vijnana surgery before being made a child soldier.

"You're right, this all seems a little crazy," she said.

Ichika simply turned in his chair and removed the towel, showing his "whiskers" to her. She gasped at the sight as she recalled he said he had received the potentially fatal surgery against his will; out of sheer luck he was the only one to survive. She reached out but stopped short of touching the implants. This sort of thing would never be condoned by the world governments nor was such a procedure even developed. For now, she had to accept his words as truth.

"Does it hurt?" Houki asked, not taking her eyes off the whiskers

"No, but it does itch from time to time. And it did feel weird for a while but you get used to it."

He continued on with his story, making mentions of the friends he made and lost, the job to escort Kudelia, the attack by Gjallarhorn and the launch of Barbatos. When he got to his exploits in space, she became captivated like a child; particularly when he mentioned his battles with the space pirate groups. It helped when he showed her some of the battle data from the combat recorder that it convinced her of his story. He went on to describe the crisis with the Mobile Armor and the aftermath. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper; it was photo of him and several other young men and a machine similar to his IS only several times larger and damaged. Houki looked it over, spotting Ichika in the group

"We had that taken after the Mobile Armor incident, Barbatos was pretty banged up so we had it overhauled and upgraded into what it is now."

"Is Barbatos your IS now?"

"Yup, Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex."

"That's a bit of a mouthful."

"Hey, I didn't name it. The guys at Teiwaz did."

Ichika resumed his tale, using the battle data as an aid and evidence, the battle with the JPT Trust, the aided coup in Gjallarhorn, the battle against the Arianrhod Fleet in space and on Mars; the latter of which shocked Houki the most as that was the one Ichika almost died. He then finished up with explaining Tabane found him, healed him and repaired the Gundam Frame.

"Well, that's my story."

Houki remained silent, she couldn't believe everything he had been through, the hardships, the pain, the fear.

"How?"

Ichika looked at her questioningly.

"How did you not go crazy through all of that?"

He smiled softly at her.

"Because there was someone I wanted to see again. I told myself that 'if I can survive today, then the chance of seeing that someone tomorrow will be greater.' That is what kept me going through all the battles and bloodshed."

Houki blushed a little, she was about to say something else but both were interrupted by a knock at the door. Curious, Ichika cautiously approached the door and opened slightly peeked through. He then opened fully to reveal Chifuyu.

"Hey kid, I came to drop off your new uniform," she said as she handed him the packaged clothes.

"Oh thanks, Chifuyu."

"While on campus, refer to me as Ms. Orimura," She admonished softly.

"Oh right, sorry," he apologized.

The elder Orimura glanced into the room and spotted Houki.

"I take it you told her about what happened?"

"Just got done, actually. The combat recorder data helped a bit."

"How'd she take it?"

"Pretty well from the looks of it."

"Well, you two get some rest; you have a big day tomorrow."

With that, Chifuyu left. Ichika walked back in and laid the uniform on the bed. He sat back down in the chair with Houki looking at him a little strangely.

"What?"

"Why did you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"You were acting like someone was after you when you went to answer the door."

"Oh that. Force of habit, really. Mars wasn't exactly the safest place in the outer colonies."

Houki felt saddened at that.

"Well, we should probably get ready for bed. Like Chifuyu said, it's a big day tomorrow," Ichika said, trying to change the subject.

"Um Ichika?" Houki started, catching his attention.

"I think we need to establish some ground rules, first," she said with a bit of authority.

Long-lost childhood friend or not, they were still teenagers and boundaries had to be drawn.

* * *

The next morning in the homeroom of class 1-1, the girls were gossiping up a storm of the new MALE student, one student was absent, Cecilia Alcott who was still in the infirmary along with Lingyin Huang of class 1-2. Charlotte Dunois was still present, albeit a little sore after yesterday. Still, that didn't stop anyone from wondering what class the boy would be put in. It was made no secret that a good deal of the students were hoping it would be theirs. One, however, was not as exuberant: Laura Bodewig. After the surprise entrance, she did a little digging into this Ichika Orimura; what she found made her blood boil. It seems that he was the reason as to why her mentor dropped out of the finals of the second Mondo Grosso. She didn't care if it was because he was kidnapped; if you were weak, you die. Weakness is something that must be cut out, that's what her instructors always taught her. Ichika Orimura was a stain on the perfect image that was Chifuyu "Brunhilde" Orimura; a stain she intended to remove.

The chatter stopped when the aforementioned Brunhilde and her assistant teacher, Maya Yamada stepped in; Maya taking the podium.

"Good morning, class. As I'm sure you are aware, we have a new student joining us at the academy," the green-haired woman said cheerfully.

Bringing up the topic of their gossip may have been the confirmation of their questions (hopes.) Ms. Orimura turned to the door.

"Come on in," she softly ordered.

The door opened, all eyes were on the entrance as the new student walked in. A pair of white slacks with combat boots replaced the skirt the girls wore, the jacket accentuated his broad shoulders; he didn't wear a tie as it would irritate the Alaya-Vijnana on his back. He stood at attention like a soldier before the class and spoke clearly and confidently.

"My name is Ichika Orimura, nice to meet you all."


	4. All my Classmates are Female

"Speech"

' _Thoughts'_

" _Flashback Speech"_

 _/Speech over communication tech/_

 **Infinite Stratos: The Iron-Blooded Devil**

Chapter 4: All My Classmates are Female

He stood at attention like a soldier before the class and spoke clearly and confidently.

"My name is Ichika Orimura, nice to meet you all."

Houki gave a small smile, happy that Ichika was in her class. All was quiet for a moment before chaos.

"It's the male student!"

"He's in our class!"

"Homeroom just keeps getting better and better!"

Ichika was stunned at the girls' outbursts.

"What's with them? It's like they never saw a boy before," he said befuddled. Chifuyu whispered in his ear.

"It's because they have very limited interaction with males. A lot of boys and girls get put in separate schools from a young age."

"That doesn't exactly sound like a good idea in the long run." Ichika remembered that a number of the Tekkadan guys didn't know how to interact with girls due to limited contact, leading to some awkward moments. _'I think Akihiro had it the worst.'_

Chifuyu silently agreed.

"Quiet down!" she ordered.

Within an instant, everyone went silent. Chifuyu then told the boy to take the seat at the front of the class, which happened to be smack dab in the center. Class had officially began shortly after that but Ichika was having some issues. The first was that he could feel everyone's eyes on him, staring like he was some kind of exotic animal. He was even sure one was trying to glare holes in his head for some reason. All this gawking was really making him uncomfortable.

' _Fighting that mobile armor again is starting to look much more appealing than this.'_

The second was everything Ms. Yamada was saying about the IS; it all just sounded like gibberish. Angle this… stance that… whatever maneuver… active thing; the hell does all this even mean?! He was sure they were making all this up as they go.

"Are there any questions before we continue?" Ms. Yamada asked the class.

Everyone remained silent to that. She then noticed the younger Orimura sibling appeared to be struggling a little.

"Do you have any questions, Orimura?"

"Well…"

"If you do, don't be afraid to ask."

"To be honest, Ms. Yamada…" Ichika began.

"Yes?" she asked with a cheerful smile.

"I don't understand any of it," he said dejectedly.

"Not any of it? Did anyone else have trouble on what we covered so far?" the green-haired woman asked the rest of the class, not a one replied.

"Did you read the reference manual before you started school?" Chifuyu asked the boy.

"You mean that big one?"

"Yes, the one that said 'required reading."

"Well, I'm not quite done with it yet."

"Make sure you finish it and memorize it within a week."

Chifuyu couldn't exactly blame him for having some trouble, an Infinite Stratos was _VERY_ different from a mobile suit; the latter of which he had far more experience with. Not to mention that he only recently (and barely) caught up in the academics department. Though she had feeling that he was going to shine in the practical portions of this class. Much to his relief, recess was called soon after. However, that relief was short-lived as just as it was called; Ichika was then swarmed by his new classmates bombarding him with questions.

"What kind of IS do you pilot? I've never seen one like that." Honne Nohotoke, or Nohohon as her friends call her, was first.

"It's a special type called a Gundam Frame."

"Gundam…Frame?"

"What's your IS named?" Yuzu Tanimoto asked this time.

"Um, Barbatos Lupus Rex"

"Who made it?" Sayuka Yorutake got in Ichika's face.

"A small group called Teiwaz" that one wasn't exactly a lie, it was more of untruth.

The idea was that it was a cover story for the Gundam; that it was made by a small unknown group. Ichika provided details about Teiwaz and its subsidiaries while Tabane created shell companies using that information, even making a digital recreation of McMurdo Barriston for a portrait. This way, Ichika could provide an explanation that wouldn't get him sent to the looney bin or if someone got curious and went searching for them. The girls continued to bombard him with questions ranging from where he's been to if he's in any relationships.

"Ichika, can we talk?"

It was Houki to the rescue, much to his relief.

"Sure"

The other girls let out groans of disappointment as the two left the room.

* * *

(School Roof)

"Thanks for the save," he sighed as he leaned against the railing.

"Sure, though I'm surprised you're having so much trouble. I'm a little disappointed," Houki said with a soft scolding tone.

"Cut me some slack, a mobile suit doesn't work the same as an IS. Not to mention we had to prioritize survival over studying in Tekkadan so I only just barely caught up with everything for school."

Houki sighed, she had to give him that one.

"You didn't seem to have any issue with your IS when you dropped into the arena yesterday."

"That's because Barbatos is really just an IS in name only. It's still a mobile suit and operates the same as it always has; albeit in a much more confined cockpit," he said the last part under his breath.

"Oh, I see."

"I don't suppose I could ask you to tutor me, could I?" he asked sheepishly, hands held up in a pleading way.

"M-Me… tutor?" she stuttered out.

"Well, yeah."

Houki was silent as she played with her hair.

"I… guess I could," she said shyly with a hidden smile.

The bell rang, signaling the end of break, prompting the two to return to class. As it was Saturday, classes resumed until 1 before it all ended. ******* Since the school had its own custodial staff, it wasn't required for the students to clean up either. Houki left to attend Kendo club, leaving Ichika left in class.

"Before you go, could I bother you for a little errand?" Ms. Yamada asked, catching his attention.

"Could you take today's assignments to Ms. Alcott and Ms. Huang? They're still in the infirmary from yesterday."

"Sure, I don't mind," Ichika said as he took the papers.

* * *

With some directions from Ms. Yamada, Ichika found the infirmary with little issue. Now to finally meet this Alcott and Huang; why did that last one sound familiar to him?

"Hello? I've come to bring the schoolwork for today," he said as soon as the door opened.

"Ichika?!" a girl's voice exclaimed.

The boy in question caught sight of a blond wrapped in bandages and…

"Rin?" that's where knew that name from; Lingyin "Rin" Huang.

"You two know each other?" the blond girl asked.

"We used to go to the same elementary school when we were kids," Ichika explained.

"That's besides the point, I thought you were dead!" the Chinese girl shouted.

"Dead?!" the blond shouted in shock.

"I've been getting that a lot lately," he said with a sweatdrop.

"So if you were alive, where the hell have you been?" Lingyin or 'Rin' asked.

"I'd tell you but I doubt you'd believe me."

Rin growled at his answer, feeling he was dodging her question.

"Okay, clearly I'm missing something here. Let's start over," the blond interjected, "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Ichika Orimura and I'm the one who got that other girl off your backs yesterday."

"While I appreciate the gesture, I could have won that if allowed to finish," The blond said haughtily.

"Not from where I was standing," Ichika muttered.

"How dare you, do you not realize who I am?" she asked indignantly.

"No"

"I am the great Cecilia Alcott, elite pilot of the 3rd generation IS: Blue Tears and Representative Contender of England!"

Ichika stared quietly for roughly two seconds before tilting his head in confusion.

"Who?"

Cecilia balked in shock while Rin snickered at her reaction. Suddenly, the room trembled as if an earthquake had started. Alas, it was no earthquake but a stampede; a stampede of about 30 girls to be exact, swarming into the infirmary.

"Orimura, trouble!" one girl shouted.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Stand aside!" a rather boisterous voice suddenly demanded.

The group of girls parted like the Red Sea to allow a group of faculty members, including the principal and Chifuyu and officials flanked by students all wearing an armband. The girl in the lead as well as an older woman right behind her caught everyone's attention.

"Uh oh, it's Izumi Kobayashi from class 1-4."

"And her mother, too."

"This can't be good."

The older of the two Kobayashi stepped forward and gave Ichika the once over with her eyes.

"So, you're the famous Ichika Orimura?" she stated yet her tone and posture gave off the impression that she was speaking to someone beneath her and couldn't stomach it.

"And you are?" he asked.

"Mieko Kobayashi, chairwoman of Infinite Stratos Regulatory Committee."

"And what brings you here?"

"It's come to attention that you have been accepted as a student here at the prestigious IS Academy."

"…And?" he was failing to see the point or what her deal was.

"You are aware that this academy is for girls only, right?"

Right then and there Ichika realized what this was about and that this Kobayashi woman was one of those types that had cropped in recent years; Chifuyu had warned him beforehand.

"No it isn't."

Everyone in earshot gasped as the school's lone male told off one of the most politically powerful people in the world. It was at this time that Houki had just arrived outside the infirmary as she watched the scene unfold.

"It's for IS pilots and all IS pilots up until now have been female. Nowhere does it say in the school regulations boys are not allowed."

"Oh is that so?" she sneered.

"Actually, he's right," the principal interrupted, "There's no rule that says he can't be here."

Mieko gave the man a rather scalding glare for daring to stand in her way. Chifuyu then chimed in.

"And as we are on the subject of school regulations, I'm sure you'll recall one in particular: all students of the IS Academy are under its exclusive control and no nation, organization or other group can interfere with their attendance. Not even you."

The chairwoman almost growled but then shifted into a scheming smirk.

"I think I know the perfect way to settle this. Since he never took a proper entrance exam, a special exhibition match shall be held. If he wins, then his attendance here shall continue unchallenged."

"Why? You have no grounds to challenge my attendance here to begin with," Ichika rebuked.

"Do I?" her grin widened, "Has anyone ever seen you pilot an IS? How do we know that it's not someone else in there and you're just taking the credit? The way your machine is designed, assuming it really is _yours_ , it would be easy to fake your so-called ability to pilot."

' _So that's her game. Even if I do say Chifuyu has, she'd counter that as my sister, she'd be part of this little conspiracy she's imagining. Alright, I'll play along just to make her eat her words.'_

"You wanna see if I can? Fine by me," Ichika said nonchalantly.

"And I shall be his opponent," Mieko's spawn cut in, sporting a grin similar to her mother's.

"How much of a handicap will there be?"

"Oh, asking for a favor already?" Izumi asked mockingly.

"No, I wanna know how much of a handicap I should give you."

Many of the students began to laugh loudly at that, a few officials chuckled.

"I miss the joke or something?"

"Orimura, are you serious?" one girl said between laughs

"Yeah, men used to be stronger than women but that was before the IS was invented," another chuckled out.

"People say that if a war broke out between men and women, it wouldn't last three days," a third added.

' _Wow! When Chifuyu said that the 'women-only glitch' had gone to their heads, she wasn't kidding,'_ Ichika thought to himself in exasperation.

That Mieko woman's laugh was the loudest and most grating on his ears.

"If he's that confidant, then let's raise the stakes: if he loses; then not only will he be expelled, his IS will be confiscated."

The girls stopped laughing at that condition. The room temperature seemed to have dropped a few degrees; she just crossed a line.

"Orimura, you can't agree to-"one of the girls from earlier tried to say.

"Fine," the younger Orimura cut the girl off, anger laced his voice.

"Very well. The match shall be held tomorrow," the woman smirked as if she already won.

"And don't forget to bring a long wooden box," Ichika added.

"Why?" the chairwoman asked.

"Because you're gonna need something to bury _her_ in," he answered, pointing at the woman's daughter.

* * *

(Room 1025)

Ichika and Houki were readying themselves for bed after a rather eventful day. Despite the lone boy in the room being completely calm, his childhood friend couldn't help but worry.

"Ichika, why did you agree to that?" she asked, to which he immediately caught to what she was referring to.

"Have some faith, Houki," he tried to assure her.

"But if you lose, your IS will be taken away. And you'll be… you'll be…" Ichika gently placed his hands on her shoulders in soothing way.

"I'm not going anywhere and neither is Barbatos."

"But Kobayashi is a representative contender for Japan and she's known for pulling underhanded tricks, everyone in the academy knows that. How can you be so sure?"

Ichika's features hardened in a way that may have very well made his own sister flinch.

"Because I'm gonna show them what happens when you mess with a member of Tekkadan."

With those words, Houki felt that Kobayashi had made a big mistake; she just didn't know how much.

* * *

(Next day)

The first male IS pilot was going to have his first fight. And his opponent was gonna be the leading representative contender for Japan. With expulsion and his IS on the line, it shouldn't have been a surprise that this was of major interest to students, faculty and government officials. While most of the more notable officials couldn't be there in person on such short notice, they were instead given a live feed of the battle to come. It also shouldn't be a surprise that a betting pool had been opened on the fight with a heavy majority betting against Ichika.

Speaking of whom, said boy was in the launch bay control room, now clad in the gray shirt and cargo pants he arrived in two days prior. While it hugged his body snuggly; a lot of students and faculty agreed it was far more modest than the swimwear-like flight suits the girls wore up until this point. Ichika paid it no mind as he was focused on the monitor displaying his opponent, her name beneath her picture: Kobayashi.

"I thought the format was one on one," Ichika stated with some confusion and hint of indignation.

The reason for his confusion being that Kobayashi had brought along not one, not two but _five_ of her underlings from the hall monitor guild and every single one of them shared a cocky smirk.

Sato was in an Uchigane and armed with a single katana.

Toyama was in a Rafale Revive and armed with an axe and assault rifle.

Morikawa was in an Uchigane armed with twin katana.

Shinju was in a Rafale Revive armed with a grenade launcher and shotgun.

Date was in a Rafale Revive armed with only a sniper rifle.

Kobayashi was in her personal IS, the Amaterasu; a white and gold 3rd generation prototype IS with a sun motif. She was armed with a sword and mirror like shield while missiles adorned a sun ring behind her back.

Oh, how he was going to enjoy serving them each an entire humble pie. Chifuyu then walked up beside him as he kept his gaze on the screen.

"Normally, it is. Kobayashi has a habit of stacking the odds in her favor."

"So I've been told. And they just let her get away with it?"

"Her mother is the chairwoman of the ISRC, she'd get away with murder, if she hasn't already."

"Makes no difference to me; they didn't bring enough anyway."

Ichika then exited the control room for the launch bay. Ms. Yamada then turned to Chifuyu.

"Ma'am, don't you think he's being a little overconfident?" Maya asked worriedly. A sentiment shared by a few of the students in the room.

The elder Orimura said nothing, while half of her did agree he was acting a little full of himself; the other argued that he kind of earned the right to after everything he's been through. She watched him join Houki down in the launch bay and hold out his arm. There on his wrist was a white band similar to the ones Atra made for her, Mikazuki and Kudelia save for the fact that the metal ring holding it together was twice as big and bore the Tekkadan symbol.

"Let's go, Barbatos!"

A flash of light enveloped Ichika and faded as quickly as it came. Now clad in the armor of the Gundam Frame, its appearance made Houki step back in awe. This was the first time seeing it up close. Its form had a very beast-like, almost demonic, air about it; yet the design of the armor gave it a sort-of knightly quality as well. Inside, Ichika winced a little after feeling the Alaya-Vijnana kick in. He glanced at the screen before him, showing what the eye cameras saw.

"Begin retinal projection."

With that, it now shifted to his eyes being linked to the machine's; the Gundam's eyes were now his eyes.

Up in the control room, data on Barbatos came in as it synced with the academy computers. Then its status filled the screen along with his opponents':

[Kobayashi: 700, Toyama: 450, Sato: 400, Morikawa: 400, Date: 450, Shinju: 450, Orimura: 1500]

The green-haired assistant teacher was stunned at the unprecedented amount of shields the young boy's machine possessed; she felt he was gonna need every last one of them in this fight.

 _/The time to use the arena is limited, the match will begin when you launch. The match will end when one side's shield count hits zero/_ Chifuyu said over the bay's intercom.

He walked over to the catapult, feeling as if he was on the Isaribi again.

"Ichika…," Houki said, her eyes firm as she locked with the green eyes of the shrunken mobile suit, " …be careful."

"I will. Just have faith," he replied. Houki could almost feel the reassuring smile on his lips.

 _/All IS pilots, the match will begin shortly/_

He crouched down to brace himself as the barriers came up for launch.

"Ichika Orimura, Gundam Barbatos, taking off!"

Houki couldn't help biting her lip in anxiety as Ichika rocketed off down the bay. She then went to join everyone else in the control room.

* * *

Within the student council office, the council president, Tatenashi Sarashiki watched the proceeding at her desk along with her younger sister Kanzashi. The latter of which glared at the screen. This girl on the screen only got to where she is because of her mother bribing and blackmailing her way to the top. Kanzashi and several government officials knew she was the superior pilot yet every time she tried take the top spot from Izumi, the little snake would pull something dirty, be it sabotage or getting ganged up on, and somehow always got away with it. How she wished someone would knock her off her high horse.

"Typical. Kobayashi stacks it in her favor and makes it a six on one," Kanzashi said disdainfully.

"And she brought 3rd years to boot. I kinda feel sorry for the guy," sighed Tatenashi as she laid her cheek against her fist holding her closed fan.

* * *

(Infirmary)

"This certainly does not bode well for Orimura," Charlotte remarked.

She had come to check on Cecilia and Rin while almost of the entire school was watching the fight. Said two girls were no exception as they had the TV on to the interschool channel. It seemed the fight was already over before it even started to them.

"No but I suppose it's what he gets for running his mouth," the blond English girl said with finality.

* * *

"Now you shall see what a true elite can do," Kobayashi said proudly.

"Let me know when they get here."

"Big talk for someone on his own."

"Speaking of which, I thought this was gonna be one on one."

"Well, you _did_ offer a handicap so we took you up on it. Don't tell me you're having second thoughts after trying to sound tough."

She and her sycophants began to laugh mockingly.

"Far from it but you didn't bring enough."

That little comment got them to stop as a light began to build in Barbatos' manipulator and with a flash of light, it had formed into the ultra-large mace. His opponents and the audience regarded weapon with wide eyes.

 **(A/N: At this point, I'd recommend starting your favorite fight/beatdown music; I personally suggest 'When My Devil Rises' by Man With A Mission.)**

"That thing's almost as big as he is!"

"Compensating much?"

"He can't be serious."

"Cocky little… I'll teach him his place!"

The last one came from Toyama as she charged at the white mech. Ichika ignited his thrusters and flew forward to meet the girl at the half way mark. He flipped the mace into a backhanded grip and launched it like a javelin right at Toyama.

"What kind of idiot throws their weapon?" she asked incredulously.

She swung her axe upward to deflect the incoming projectile into the air. She was about to mock him for that stunt except…

"Where'd he go?!"

He was nowhere to be seen. Above, Ichika grasped his thrown weapon and hit the thrusters; combining it with gravity, he brought the heavy weapon down on Toyama hard. She barely had a chance to look up before getting hit with the business end of the large mace; the resulting blow kicked up a dust cloud, blocking them from sight.

"Toyama!" Morikawa shrieked before charging in.

She was too worked up to notice Ichika rushing in beneath her from out of the dust cloud, thrusting his mace towards her torso, until it was too late. The pronged ends smashed into her with enough force to lift her off her feet on the weapon's end. Ichika hit the pile bunker's trigger, sending Morikawa flying onto the downed form of Toyama.

"Son of a bitch!" Sato roared as she came flying in fast with her sword.

Within barely a second, the Barbatos leaned back out of the weapon's path with an inch to spare; shocking the girl at his reaction speed. A short burst fired from his thrusters to continue his spin as he switched out the mace for the smoothbore gun and fire a round point blank into Sato's back, sending her flying. Before she had a chance to right herself, Ichika landed back on his feet, launched the tail blade, hooking Sato at the leg before dragging her across the field and slamming her into the growing pile of beaten opponents.

"That thing's got a tail?!" Date exclaimed.

Shinju growled and fired her grenade launcher at the Gundam Frame, kicking up dust. A flash of white out of her peripheral vision was the only warning she got before she turned and found the Barbatos on her with the sword mace at the ready. This was all time allowed for her to register before she was batted away into the pile. Ichika paid it little mind as he blasted towards the pale faced Date.

"S-Stay away from me!" Date screamed as she open fired at the white mech.

Barbatos zigzagged between the shots as the panicking girl fired wildly. Ichika focused on the position of the gun's next shot and raised his sword mace. The girl fired again and hit the weapon. She felt some relief and triumph at seemingly having landed a blow to this boy only for it to be dashed when he spun into the hit and brought his sword mace down hard; knocking her out of the match and out cold. Ichika straightened up as he turned his head to Kobayashi, Barbatos' green eyes flashed a menacing glow.

"And then there was one," he said softly.

* * *

The arena had practically gone silent as had militaries and corporations across the globe watching this match. Nearly every single jaw hanged open and every single eye widened.

* * *

(Infirmary)

"Holy…" Rin began.

"…shit" and Cecilia finished.

Charlotte remained silent.

* * *

(In the control room)

"Ms. Orimura… am I hallucinating or did… did he just…?" a bug-eyed Maya stammered out.

"Yeah, he did," Chifuyu responded with a prideful smirk.

* * *

Even the great unflappable Tatenashi dropped her trademark fan in shock.

"He took down 5 third-years like they were nothing."

"And they didn't even touch him," Kanzashi muttered, eying the shield counter on the screen.

Kobayashi: 700, Toyama: 0, Sato: 0, Morikawa: 0, Date: 0, Shinju: 0, Orimura: 1500

* * *

"Yikes," Houki said under her breath.

"Now you see how he got that nickname," Chifuyu remarked quietly.

"Nickname?" Houki asked in confusion.

"He didn't tell you? He picked up a nickname he shared with another while he was in that _place_."

Houki figured she didn't want to let slip anything that sounded crazy while around others. Still, Ichika never mentioned a nickname he got.

"The Devil of Tekkadan,' from what you've seen here and on the files, you can see how he got it."

* * *

Izumi Kobayashi trembled where she stood. Whatever confidence and bravado she had was gone after watching her underlings get swatted like flies by this boy in the blink of an eye.

"H-he's a monster."

Her opponent then started to slowly approach, like a predator stalking their prey. It certainly didn't help that the IS's silhouette, glowing eyes and tail made him appear all the more demonic; causing her to unconsciously back pedal in fright.

"Ho-How are you this strong?!"

"Lot of push-ups, lot of sit-ups and plenty of juice."

The smug tone in his voice instantly changed her terror into impotent anger.

"Oh, you think you're being _cute_?"

"Cute? I'm _adorable_."

That set her off as she charged with her sword. She managed to fire off a missile to which Ichika shot it out of the air with his wrist gun, destroying it and blocking their view of each other. Kobayashi came barreling out of the smoke with the sword in a stabbing thrust. Barbatos' tail blade came around and deflected the attack, leaving her open for Ichika to bat her away with the sword mace. She slid a few feet before managing to stop herself; allowing her to take a glance at her shield counter.

700 – 231

' _I lost over half my shields with just one hit?! No IS has that kind of power!'_

She glared back at the armored boy; though she couldn't see his face, she could feel the mocking smile on his lips.

"You…do you know who I am?"

"Oh I know and frankly, I don't give a damn."

Her anger boiled over at his flippant comment.

"I am Izumi Kobayashi, Japan's representative contender! You and everyone in this academy are beneath me! I am a goddess compared to a filthy rat like you! I will not be bullied like a—ack!"

That rat comment struck a sensitive nerve in Ichika, hence why during the girl's rant, he grabbed her by the leg and slammed her into the ground once! Twice! THRICE! A moment to give a short breather then slamming her a fourth time before throwing her to the ground.

"Puny goddess," he snorted before walking away.

The only sounds in the arena that could be heard were Barbatos' footsteps and Kobayashi whimpering in pain.**

* * *

"That was a little brutal," Houki grimaced along with Chifuyu.

"Maybe but she shouldn't have said that. He spent years being called a 'rat' so I guess he'd take it personally."

* * *

 _/The match has concluded. Winner: Ichika Orimura./_

It took a moment for everyone to register that Ichika had faced six opponents… by himself… and won… in record time. When it did finally dawn on them many erupted into cheers.

The medic rushed out into the field with stretchers along with Chifuyu to observe the damage her little brother had caused. She'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy watching him knock these brats down a few pegs. She approached one of the groups, the one tending to a now awake Date as Ichika walked over as well.

"Date, you okay?" she asked the girl.

"I'll have the linguini with clams," she slurred out.

"Ooh, think I hit her a little too hard," Ichika winced behind his helmet.

"Better dial it back from now on," she said as she cast a glance to the Gundam Frame.

"Hey, I asked if they wanted a handicap. And they said the six-on-one _was_ the handicap," Ichika shrugged as he walked off.

Up in the stands, Laura Bodewig locked her lone visible eye on the white machine as she replayed the whole fight in her mind. He wasted no movement, struck hard and fast then moved to the next one, capitalized on even the smallest of his enemy's mistakes and even when he was mocking them, he never once let his guard down. Just like she would do. The German girl initially thought she wouldn't have the chance to fight the younger Orimura when she heard that he was going to be fighting Kobayashi and her little goons. However, they underestimated him and took advantage of that… like a soldier… like Chifuyu. The silver haired girl had felt a little more respect for the boy and perhaps some excitement for when she faced him.

"Well Ichika Orimura, you may prove to be a challenge worthy of my time after all."

(Break)

 **** I really didn't know how to end this fight so I took a page out of the Avengers. I know everyone's seen that part a million times but it's still funny.**

 ***** Some Japanese schools have a six day week with Saturday being a half-day.**

(Break)

Omake – Alternative reactions

Silence had filled the Infirmary as Cecilia, Rin and Charlotte had just seen the Barbatos brutally take down the last of Kobayashi's cronies. Charlotte was the first to find her voice.

"I am both… frightened… and aroused."

Lingyin and Cecilia could only nod in agreement.

(Scene break)

Laura was silent and wide eyed at how Chifuyu's younger brother had eliminated the fodder in short order. Her thoughts had gone to… a rather strange place as her gaze was locked on the Barbatos:

' _Suddenly life has new meaning to me'_

' _There's beauty up above and things we never take notice of'_

' _You wake up suddenly you're in love'_


	5. A Not So Strange Day

"Speech"

" _Flashback Speech"_

 _/Speech over communication tech/_

 **Infinite Stratos: The Iron-Blooded Devil**

Chapter 5: A Not So Strange Day

Monday morning, a single day after Ichika's fight to remain at IS Academy…. If one could really call it a fight. Houki awoke around the time of Ichika's morning routine of 20 sit-ups, 20 push-ups and 20 pull-ups; the second of which he was currently on. She couldn't help but blush every time she saw him do this bare-chested and fought back all the impure thoughts that would spring up; a deed done by focusing on his scars and the "whiskers" on his back as he calls them. However, this also had the consequence of her feeling saddened at the horrors he must've endured.

"Hey, morning," he said; having noticed her awake.

"Morning," she replied.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah… and you?"

"I slept okay," he stood up and opened to the balcony door, "Hey, I'm gonna finish up my reps so why don't you wash up first?"

"Okay," Houki pulled herself out of bed and made for the shower; a last quick glance at Ichika's torso mid-pull up made her consider a cold one.

* * *

Breakfast became a quiet affair as everyone was whispering amongst themselves when the two entered, ate and left. The same continued as they walked the hallways, everyone seemingly giving them a wide berth. Students would huddle close, whispering to each other yet never taking their eyes off the duo. This did not go unnoticed by the two childhood friends and Ichika had an inkling as to the reason behind the sudden change in his peers.

"You know… I'm a little concerned."

"About what?" Houki asked.

"I might've gone a little overboard in the fight yesterday,"

"I'd argue that Kobayashi had it coming for a long time."

"Still, I might have scared everybody with how I fight."

As soon as the classroom door opened, they were barraged with cheers like hurricane force winds, many chanting Ichika's surname.

"You were saying?" Houki asked with a small smirk.

A split second later, they were surrounded by the class; a girl in pigtails went first.

"Orimura, that was awesome!"

"Yeah! You really gave Kobayashi a thrashing; Bam! Boom! POW!" a girl in glasses added, swinging her arms around with each sound effect.

"You took down her and five 3rd years and made it look SO easy!" Sayuka gushed.

"If we had you during the inter-class tournament, we'd smoke 'em!" Yuzu added excitedly.

"All the other classes better hope they never have to face class 1's 'Iron-Blooded Devil!" Nonohon declared.

Everyone stopped at that last comment.

"Iron-Blooded Devil?" everyone asked as all eyes turned to Nonohon.

"I overheard Lady Chifuyu and Shinonono saying that was the nickname you picked up, ***** " she explained.

Houki flinched at having learned someone had been listening in on her and Chifuyu while Ichika was about to correct her before another girl chimed in.

"Class 1's Iron-Blooded Devil,' that sounds so cool!"

The girls began to chatter amongst themselves about the new 'ace' of their class when Ms. Yamada and Chifuyu walked, the latter ordering everyone to sit down.

As every made for the seats, one girl that sat behind Ichika took note of something different about his attire.

"Did you put that on your uniform jacket?"

He looked back at her then glanced down at to where she was looking.

"Oh yeah, I kinda don't feel right without it there."

There on his back was a red Tekkadan flower symbol.

"It's the symbol of the group I was a part of, Tekkadan."

"Tekka' as in 'Iron Fire?"

"No, 'Iron Flower.' Because no matter how much it's trampled, it never wilts. It never dies."

Those that heard him looked up in awe at the poetic meaning behind the symbol.

Class had started and just like before Ichika had no idea what Ms. Yamada was saying. What does molecular exchange have to do with thrusters? Come to think of it, why does he even need to _take_ this class? Barbatos technically isn't even an IS. He'd have to have that tutoring session with Houki soon. Another thing that was occurring like before was feeling the stares on him, although, they were less intense than before; even the drilling stare seemed more subdued. It carried on until class ended with Ms. Yamada reminding everyone that tomorrow was practical training with class 2.

A small recess was called and Ichika had asked Houki to join him for some coffee. A quick trip to a nearby vending machine and downing a can each later, they began their walk back to the classroom; only to stop when they caught sight of a faculty member attaching something to the message board. Taking glance, Ichika's curiosity was piqued when he saw the words 'Important Tournament Update.'

"What's this?"

"It's about the tournament next month."

"Tournament?" Then Ichika recalled Chifuyu saying something about that when he first arrived, "Oh yeah, Ms. Orimura mentioned something like that, I think it was to stop me and that black IS from fighting."

He then took a closer look at the flyer and read aloud.

"In order for us to conduct the most practical simulated matches, all of those participating in next month's IS tournament will be required to form two-member teams. However, for those who are unable to establish teams on their own, their partners will be chosen by a random drawing. The registration deadline is the end of the week. Please inform your homeroom teachers for registration."

He then turned to his childhood friend.

"Are you participating, Houki?"

"I was thinking about it but I wasn't sure. Why?"

"Well, I was thinking, why don't we team up?"

She then looked at him in surprise with a small blush as several thoughts ran through her mind. Ichika had no doubt become the top desired partner for this event, having made a name for himself in less than two days. He also had become _the_ opponent to beat for the very same reason. Houki knew she wasn't one of the best at the academy but the two had known each other since early childhood and had trained together for years. Plus there was the fact that _he_ asked _her_.

"Um, okay," she said with a little enthusiasm.

"Then let's go tell Ms. Yamada."

The two then rushed off to the teacher's office. The process didn't take long, filling out a few forms and inputting it into the system.

"Alright, you're all set," Ms. Yamada said with a bright smile.

After that, the two returned to class to find that they had just found out about the new team format for the tournament. Ichika had instantly become swarmed by those asking him to be their partner only for the hopes to be dashed when he revealed that he already had one. The day carried on into the afternoon and classes ended for the day. Houki had left for Kendo club, leaving Ichika to return to the room alone.

Along the way, he came across a park area with a river running through and benches scattered about. It had been so long since he had seen anything so normal like this that he soon found himself sitting on the nearest bench. His mind drifted back to Mars and those left behind. He then dug into his pocket and pulled out the photo of everyone; he couldn't help but wonder as to how they would take a world like this. Dante would enjoy all the tech to play with. Shino, Zack and Eugene would tell him he's in a paradise. Mika would probably kick his ass for taking Barbatos, even if he could only use one leg.

"You okay, kid?" a familiar voice asked.

Ichika turned to find Chifuyu walking up to him.

"Been thinking about the rest of guys in Tekkadan, I can't help but wonder if they made it out okay," Ichika said as he handed her the photo.

Chifuyu looked at the picture intently, easily noting the Barbatos in the back and its sheer size in comparison to the humans in front. Her focus then shifted to the group of boys at the forefront, this was her first time seeing the Tekkadan boys and it surprised her at how young they all looked.

"So this is them?"

"Hnn," Ichika nodded, "We had that taken after the Mobile Armor incident. You see the kid next to me?"

Chifuyu zeroed in on where her little brother was in the photo and saw him with a rather small kid's arm around his shoulder; while it seemed like just a friendly gesture, it looked kinda like Ichika was holding him up.

"That's Mikazuki."

"The kid you shared piloting your machine? He looks barely as old as you."

"He was actually older than I was. And the guy in the suit next to him is Orga, he was the boss of Tekkadan. He and Mika have known each other for ever, they were as close as brothers," He said the last part with small smile.

"Who are the girls here?" she asked while pointing at the pair of blondes and a petite girl squatting in front of Mikazuki.

"The older woman is Ms. Merribit, she was the HQ manager on Mars and was in a relationship with Yukinojo; the older man next to her. The girl in front of Mika there is Atra, she was our cook and Mika's girlfriend."

"He had a girlfriend?"

"Considering he got her pregnant, what else would you call her?"

Chifuyu's eyes widen, now it just got a little awkward.

"Uh, what about the other blonde?"

"That's Kudelia, she wasn't part of Tekkadan but she was responsible for its creation."

"How so?" she asked as she sat down.

"You remember how I told you it was once called CGS before Orga led a mutiny against all the jackasses that were running it?"

She nodded as he turned to stare out at the lake.

"What started it all was a job we accepted and were soon attacked by Gjallarhorn."

"And that job was this Kudelia?"

"Yup, we were to take her to Earth. Gjallarhorn didn't make it easy for us. We fought a lot of battles. Lost a lot of friends… Neriya…Dios… Danji… Biscuit… but we kept going. We crushed anyone who got in our way, they showed us no mercy and we responded in kind. We got her there and she had been close friend and business partner ever since."

It wrenched at her heart at how he spoke of the battles he's fought, the friends he lost, the enemies he's killed but most of all; how nonchalant his tone was as if he was talking about the weather.

"Thinking back on it, I think I understand how they must've felt."

"About what?"

"Tekkadan was all boys before Atra and Ms. Merribit came along. Being surrounded by the opposite sex who hadn't seen someone like you before or at least in a long time, feeling like eyes were on you 24/7 must've been pretty unsettling."

"Is that how _you_ feel?"

"Well, I _am_ the only guy in this academy. They at least had another to talk to, I'm on my own here. And I spent the last 5 years going from battlefield to battlefield and this school is as alien to me as when I first got on Mars. Makes you wonder if I even should be here."

"You're somewhat right," Chifuyu stated as she stood up, catching his full attention.

"Tekkadan may not be here with you and you may be the only male at this school but you're not alone, you have me; and you have Houki, too," she said with a soft smile, "We may not be Tekkadan but we're here for you, the both of us, if you ever need someone to talk to."

"I think you'd fit right in Tekkadan."

"Thanks for that but I don't think we'll ever know if it's true."

"I do," he said with smile of his own, "Orga used to say that 'any family to one of us is family to all of us.' By that logic, you're already in Tekkadan."

* * *

Izumi Kobayashi sat across from some suit from the government; various files lay across the table between them.

"What do you want? I'm busy," Izumi grumbled haughtily.

"I'm here in regards to your last match against Ichika Orimura," she began as she adjusted her glasses.

The girl growled at the mention of that name.

"What of it?"

"The top brass have been reviewing it, your previous matches and IS data; bottom line is that they are not pleased."

The younger girl gave a look that silently said 'I should care, why?'

"All your matches thus far have ended with your victory either by default due to your opponents being no shows, you and others ganging up on them which puts them at a severe disadvantage or 'sudden technical difficulties' with their IS units. As it stands, you've barely had a real fight up until recently."

"I still won them, didn't I?" Kobayashi was not seeing what her point was.

"There's more. Not only has Amaterasu not shown any advancements but your actions both on and off the field have been viewed as rather unsavory; reflecting poorly on our country. Blatant disregard for rules, unsportsmanlike conduct; the list goes on. That is why you are being put on notice: if this continues, you will be dropped as a contender."

Kobayashi shot up in rage.

"You can't do that!"

"Yes, we can. The Japanese government retains the rights to choose and dismiss any representative contender if they feel that contender is not up to par or has shown behavior that would reflect badly on the country; and the ISRC has no authority to veto such a decision."

"When my mother hears of this-"

"-she will do nothing. You may be the chairwoman's daughter but that does not exempt you from the possibility of revoking your contender status. She may have nominated you as a contender but that's all that you are, a contender; not the full representative. And unless we see some improvement to your performance and attitude, you won't even be that for long either."

"But I'm the best!"

"No, you're not," the official declared forcefully, "Sarashiki scored far higher than you did in our tests; you only got top ranking because of your mother. There's even talk of making Ichika Orimura the top Representative Contender."

"WHAT?!"

"Why not? He's a Japanese citizen, his own sister was the first Representative of Japan and he's clearly the superior fighter after he MOPPED THE FLOOR WITH YOU!" she said rather smugly.

Izumi trembled with rage at this 'lowly bureaucrat.'

"You have been given 90 days to show improvement. Otherwise, you're finished."

She packed up her reports and walked out the door with a hardly sincere "Have a nice day."

Izumi was glued to her spot, her fists clenched tightly as the ultimatum replayed in her mind and her hatred boiled at the one she saw responsible: Ichika Orimura.

* * *

At the same time, Nonohon, Yuzu and Sayuka were walking down the dorm room halls after a relaxing bath.

"Can't believe Orimura already has a partner for the tournament," Nonohon sighed dejectedly.

"I wish I heard about it sooner so I could ask him to join up with me," Yuzu added.

Sayuka was about to respond when the sound of a toilet flushing and the subject of their discussion stepping out caught their attention. They all subconsciously ducked behind a corner but peeked around.

"The most advanced school in the world and they couldn't figure out how to get a toilet into the rooms?" Ichika grumbled.

The trio weren't paying attention to what he was saying, there were more focused on everything from the neck down. He was clad in a loose yet form-fitting tank-top and a pair of sweat pants, the girls were too far away to see the scars but they could make out his rather impressive physique. He came to a stop in front of one door and knocked.

"Who is it?" a girl's voice came.

"It's me, you good?" he asked.

"Yeah, come on in," the girl answered, prompting Orimura to open the door before stepping inside.

The trio were wide eyed and quickly rushed over to the door the lone male student entered.

"Isn't this Shinonono's room?" Yuzu asked.

"Yeah," Sayuka answered, "Does that mean…?" she trailed off; imagining a nude Shinonono and Orimura in bed.

"Are they…?" Yuzu added, picturing the two in the shower.

"Is it possible…?" Nonohon continued with thoughts of the two and chains and leather… and had no idea why _that_ came to mind.

The three then leaned against the door to try and listen in. They could definitely make out some kind of conversation but it was too muted to make anything out. They pressed further into the door just as everything had gone quiet on the other side. Suddenly, the door gave as they found themselves tumbling forward to see Orimura holding the door and Shinonono at the desk; both still clothed and staring at the three girls.

"Hi… we were, uh… just leaving," Nonohon weakly said before she and the two others bolted.

* * *

Ichika closed the door when he saw the girls run around the corner.

"What was that all about?" he asked, thumbing the door.

"No idea," Houki replied, utterly confused.

The lone boy returned to the desk, of which a few open books and papers were scattered about.

"Well, let's get back to it," Ichika said, Houki nodded in response and the two continued their tutoring session.

It was about another hour later that Ichika's phone rang, a little something given to him by Tabane after he fully recovered. He checked the number, finding it familiar before flipping it open.

"Hello?"

 _/Hi, Ichika!/_

"Tabane?"

* * *

"Saw your match against the Japanese Rep Contender," she said with a laugh, "How did Barbatos feel?"

 _/Felt the same as when it was a mobile suit, still a beast./_

"Good to hear! I'm glad that I could actually fix that beauty."

 _/By the way,_ _how are_ they _doing?/_

"Just fine, they should be good to go in a couple of months and be sure to let Houki know that something special is coming her way soon."

The IS creator glanced at an area of her lab, particularly on a certain set of machines in the shadows. The limited light could make out the distinctive colors of red, beige and magenta.

 _/Great. Oh and Houki is here with me, did you want to talk?/_

Tabane flinched and her smile fell.

"That's… okay, Ichika. I gotta get back to work, bye," she replied in a hollow tone before ending the call.

Tabane let out a heavy sigh. She then snapped herself out of her with a slap to her own face and approached another area of the lab.

"Alright, my little beauty… what other secrets will you reveal to me?" she asked to the machine in front of her: the wreck of Julieta Juris' Reginlaze.

* * *

Ichika closed the phone as he kept his eyes on a clearly uncomfortable Houki.

"I get the feeling that you two aren't speaking."

"We haven't… not since your funeral."

"Sorry"

"It's not your fault," she paused, "It's just… I spent so long hating her and the IS. For making me move away. For changing the world in such a way. For when I thought you were dead. There was just so much anger in me."

"What changed? I mean you _are_ at IS academy, a school that teaches you how to pilot something you hate."

"It was at the National Kendo Championship last year; I didn't realize it until after the finals that all I was doing was taking my anger out on my opponents and that you wouldn't want me to spend my life being bitter. I decided to attend here because I thought I could understand why the world loved the IS so much; maybe it would help me find a way to mend things with Tabane."

"And I'm guessing the phone call earlier was too soon?"

Houki nodded silently. She then felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Then I wish you luck in that but I hope you two don't take _too_ long. I'll help you in any way I can if you like."

"Thanks, Ichika," Houki said softly.

"Well, it's getting late, we'd best turn in," Ichika suggested.

"Yeah," she agreed.

The two put away their study materials then shut off various lights before crawling into bed, before the last light went out; the two wished each other 'Goodnight.'

* * *

 ***A/N: While this fic is written in English, the characters are technically still speaking Japanese. When Chifuyu said "Devil of Tekkadan," she said it as "TEKKADAN no Akuma." Nonohon misheard it as "TEKKETSU no Akuma" which means "Iron-Blooded Devil"**

 **Sorry this took so long, had a little trouble figuring out what to do for this. I also need to address something that a few brought up in the last chapter, the toned down violence. Ichika was aware this wasn't a fight to the death like his previous battles and therefore, didn't need to go all out as he would usually. This was due to multiple factors:**

 **He knew he was the more experienced fighter. Despite the girls of IS academy being formally trained, it's all they had: training in a controlled environment. Ichika knows that a real battle is unpredictable and can easily shift in any way; all the training in the world amounts to nothing if you don't know how to apply it in a real scenario. Plus, he was used to having the odds stacked against him, the worst of it being in a heavily damaged Gundam against an army while bleeding to death.**

 **He knew he had the superior tech. Barbatos was a monster of a mech even before Tabane gave it IS modifications, being faster and stronger than 3** **rd** **generation IS models. Combined with the Alaya-Vijnana, giving Ichika omni-directional spatial awareness and superhuman reaction speed; Chifuyu may even have a hard time against him. Then there's the simple fact that Barbatos and its kin were originally designed and built to take down Mobile Armors, machines that tore modern mobile suits into scrap.**


	6. Blue Days, Red Switch

"Speech"

" _Flashback Speech"_

 _/Speech over communication tech/_

 **Infinite Stratos: The Iron-Blooded Devil**

Chapter 6: Blue Days, Red Switch

"ASW-G-08 Barbatos Lupus Rex. Described as a 'Gundam Frame' developed by the Teiwaz Group. Its pilot is one Ichika Orimura, younger brother to Chifuyu Orimura and had been believed deceased for the past 5 years. Currently enrolled in the IS Academy with one match on record with victory," a voice spoke as data on the aforementioned Gundam was shown on a large screen.

"Yes, we saw the footage. Defeating five 3rd years in a row within seconds is nothing to scoff at," a second voice added.

"What info do we have on this Teiwaz?" asked a third.

"Not a whole lot. We've been doing recon on the various locations the company is said to own but turn out to be either a decoy or shell companies. We've also been looking into this McMurdo Barriston but it's like he doesn't exist," the first voice answered.

"This machine didn't just pop out of thin air, someone had to have built it," the third voice griped.

"And maybe more like it if the serial number is anything to go by," the second one implied, "Continue with your investigations and inform us immediately when you find something solid."

"Understood," the first affirmed.

"And if nothing turns up?" the third asked.

"Who's our best capture unit?" the second turned to the first.

"That would be Squall's"

* * *

We find Laura Bodewig sitting at a terminal, watching the footage of Ichika's only fight. With a calculating eye, she noted everything about him; the way he moved, attacked, evaded. She also analyzed his machine's characteristics, weaponry and ability. As the video ended, she leaned back; pulling a small recording device to her face, hitting record.

"He seems to be an all-rounder with a good balance of long range and close quarters combat. His machine has a lot of power in its melee attacks so getting in close without a solid plan is a very bad idea; a fact he is no doubt aware of. Of course, there's that tail for mid-range and an extra limb to worry about. And it's not just strong but fast, too. Arguably, the fastest IS on record. Then there's the pilot himself, he seems to have total awareness of his surroundings at all times so sneaking up on him will be difficult and his reaction speed is incredible, almost superhuman."

She hit stop before giving a small chuckle.

"And here I thought I would be wasting my time at this school."

Her musings were interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. She turned slightly to find Kobayashi standing behind her with a smirk.

"Ms. Bodewig, I have a proposition for you."

* * *

Ichika had just exited the records room, a flash drive now in his hand before he pocketed it. The tournament was days away and tensions were high. No doubt several participants acquired the data from his fight to study his abilities and machine's capabilities.

"Hey, Ichika!"

A familiar voice then caught his attention.

"Hey Rin, back on your feet I see."

"Yeah but my Shenlong is too damaged to be ready for the tournament in time," The Chinese girl huffed before pointing her finger at Ichika, "Therefore, I'm counting on you to get revenge for me!"

"Revenge?" he asked with a sweatdrop.

"Yeah, I saw what you and your IS did to those 3rd years so it shouldn't be too hard."

"I'd think it was because I caught 'em off guard," Ichika said, trying to be modest.

"Nice try but I saw the video again afterwards. Your Barbatos has a lot of raw strength to drain an IS' shield to zero in one blow let alone five in the blink of an eye. And you certainly didn't sound this modest in the fight."

"Can't blame a guy for trying, right?"

"If you call _that_ 'trying," Rin said, jabbing at Ichika's transparent attempt with a grin.

"Ichika?" another familiar female voice came. The two old friends turned to find…

"Oh Houki, I'd like you to meet an old friend of mine," Ichika greeted.

"Lingyin Huang, but you can call me 'Rin," the Chinese girl said cheerfully, holding out her hand.

"Uh yeah, hello," Houki returned, shaking the girl's hand. The subtle aggression in her voice didn't go unnoticed by Rin.

"So you're Houki? Ichika told me about you when we were still in elementary school."

"He never mentioned anything about you," Houki said, the edge in her voice getting harder.

"Well, we were in the same class for only about a year before the incident. I'm surprised he remembers me at all to be honest. Speaking of which, you never did tell me what happened to you, Ichika."

"That's a little hard to explain," the lone boy of the Academy answered.

"Ichika, we still have more practice to prepare for the tournament, remember?" Houki's agitation now being clearly obvious.

She then wrapped her arm around his and began to drag him off to the second arena.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking at Houki questioningly.

"Perfectly fine," She responded forcefully.

Rin kept her eyes on the two as they walked away, perplexed at Shinonono's sudden hostile turn at her and Ichika making friendly conversation. Did she do something to offend her in some way? She replayed that whole scenario over until it then occurred to her that it was less about her questioning her old friend's whereabouts in years and more what that 'friendly conversation' might've looked like to Shinonono.

"Oh ho, so that's how it is?" Rin said with sly grin.

* * *

The day of the tournament had come at last. The arena was packed with students and teachers, the VIP section was filled with government officials and corporate sponsors wanting to see the progress of their products and pilots. There was suddenly a loud fanfare followed by two female voices over the speakers in the arena.

 _/Welcome everyone to the IS Academy's Class League Tournament. I'm Tomino./_

 _/And I'm Yatate and we are here to bring you the blow by blow coverage./_

A round of applause echoed throughout as the commentators continued.

Tomino: _/For you first years still new to this, the Class League Tournament not only showcases how far the students in the second and third years have come but also scouts from governments and corporations to check out any potential prospects./_

Yatate: _/Things are a little different this year as a lot of attention is not on the third and second year students but the first years, one in particular/_

Tomino: _/We'll get to that in a minute, Tomino; I've just gotten word that the match-ups for the first years have been decided./_

The hologram display then revealed the tournament set-up. And the one many had been eager for was the first one out of the gate:

Laura Bodewig and Izumi Kobayashi vs. Ichika Orimura and Houki Shinonono.

Tomino: _/And the first match is arguably the most anticipated. We have on the red side of the field Laura Bodewig from Class 1 and Izumi Kobayashi from Class 4. Bodewig hails from Germany and is the country's lead representative contender. She may look petite but this little rabbit has got a vicious streak a mile wide./_

Yatate: _/Her IS is the 3_ _rd_ _generation model Schwarzer Regan. Dubbed a 'Schwarz Frame,' this mean machine is packing some serious firepower with that railgun and can certainly hold her own up close and personal./_

Tomino: _/She certainly showcased it against two other pilots at once. Now her partner, on the hand, is none other than Japan's own top rep contender; Izumi Kobayashi. /_

Yatate: _/Her IS is also a 3_ _rd_ _generation model, named after Japan's sun goddess: the Amaterasu, a prototype 'Shintei Frame.' This bad girl is a long range fighter with its greatest weapon being the sun mirror cannon./_

Tomino: _/There have been rumors going around that she's in hot water with the higher-ups about her performance as of late./_

(Scene Break)

"Ms. Bodewig, did the techs install that ace in the hole I gave you in your IS?" Izumi asked, trying to ignore that latest barb.

"Yes, though I can't seem to locate it on my bus slot menu."

"Don't worry, it'll do its job."

"They also haven't told me what it is, nor have you."

"Like I said, don't worry."

Laura narrowed her eye, starting to have second thoughts on having Kobayashi as her partner. It was too late now so she simply made for the catapult and launched; her 'teammate' right behind her.

* * *

"First fight and we get Bodewig. Before you came back, she was considered the strongest of all the first years here," said Houki, looking at the view of the field as the two landed.

"Was Kobayashi considered the same?" Ichika asked his old childhood friend.

"Hardly. There were plenty of rumors that she was all talk; you just made those rumors fact," Houki said mirthfully.

"Nice to know I did you all something of a service," He said as he turned back towards her.

For some odd reason, though, she was staring at him intently.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just… you seem a little worn out."

"I was a little restless last night is all," the boy waved it off as he walked by.

"If you're sure."

"Hey, don't worry. With all the training we did, we'll be perfectly fine. Remember that I got your back just as you got mine," he said with his usual soft smile.

The smile that always seemed to make her feel better. As Houki boarded one of the Academy's Uchigane training units, Ichika called forth his Gundam.

 _/Best hurry up you two, the match will begin soon/_ Chifuyu ordered over the intercom.

"Yes, ma'am!" the two said in unison.

The wait wasn't too long as Ichika approached the catapult, his preferred weapon, the sword-mace, in hand and laying against his shoulder. Stepping on and bracing himself, the younger Orimura was now ready to fight.

"Ichika Orimura, Gundam Barbatos. Launching!"

The catapult pulled him down the runway and threw onto the field. When it came back to the starting position, it was now Houki's turn as she stepped on; a katana in hand.

"Houki Shinonono, Uchigane. Launch!"

Then she too was fired out into the arena.

* * *

Tomino: _/For the team on the blue side, we have Ichika Orimura and Houki Shinonono from Class 1. This is the team that a lot of eyes are on and that is mostly because of Orimura. In case you missed it before, not only is this kid the younger brother of Chifuyu Orimura, the first Mondo Grosso champion, and the first male to be able to pilot an IS; he was declared dead up until some time ago. Where he's been and how he survived is a mystery./_

Yatate: _/Another mystery is the horse he rode in on, the Barbatos Lupus Rex. Classified as a 'Gundam Frame' IS, this thing is a_ beast _! In his first fight, Orimura used it to take down five third year students in under a minute. However, any and all info on this monster is rather limited outside of footage of its single fight./_

Tomino: _/Orimura appears to favor melee combat with emphasis on_ blunt _weaponry, it's a rather odd choice but it clearly works for him. He's even earned a nickname for himself as Class 1's 'Iron-Blooded Devil.'/_

Yatate: _/I'd say Kobayashi can attest to that, having been on the receiving end of the Barbatos; she's no doubt looking for some payback./_

Tomino: _/Orimura's partner is Houki Shinonono, this girl happens to be the younger sister of Tabane Shinonono; the IS creator./_

Yatate: _/They may be related but she certainly isn't getting any special treatment since her IS is a standard issue Uchigane./_

* * *

Just as Houki landed next to Ichika in the field, Nonohon turned to her classmates.

"Okay girls, let's show our support!"

"YEAH!" they all shouted before reaching down for something.

* * *

In the stands, the members of Class 1 were now holding up signs, banners and flags; all with the Tekkadan symbol.

Tomino: _/What's that symbol they're waving?/_

Yatate: _/From what I understand, it's come to be known as the iron flower; Orimura's emblem. You can see it on his IS down there./_

* * *

The arena went quiet as the timer began to count down.

"I really must thank you, Ichika Orimura," Laura stated with a smirk.

"And why's that?" he asked, his expression completely hidden by Barbatos' faceplate yet focused on her.

"Before you showed up, I was disappointed that I wouldn't find anyone who could give me a challenge. So I thank you for making my attendance here worthwhile."

"And I've heard quite a bit about you, seems kinda interesting to get a match-up with the top of the class..."

He then shifts his gaze to Kobayashi.

"... and...um..."

Kobayashi's eye twitched at the Gundam pilot as he trailed off.

"What? The bottom of the barrel?" she asked.

Ichika smirked behind his helmet.

"I'd say that but that would be an insult to sludge."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry this took so long and being a little short, I was in a big slump due to my grandmother passing. She had been fighting cancer for 3 years and she was just tired of it. That and I had another fic idea I wanted to test out before I lost it and was swamped with work for the holiday season. Also I had become addicted to the new Gundam Battle: Gunpla Warfare mobile game, if you're a player too, give a shout out; I might have seen you around the game.**

 **Also, I believe it's time I bring one aspect of this story to the forefront. There are most likely those of you that may not like what I'm about to say, all I ask is that we all keep calm and hear me out. So deep breaths everyone….**

 **This will NOT be a Harem story.**

 **My reasons for this are as followed: 1) As Ichika was pulled into the Post Disaster timeline not long after Houki left, he didn't develop the same level of relationship with Rin as in canon. Plus she didn't have much of a presence in the anime so I'm going a different route for her. 2) In regards to Cecilia and Charlotte, since Ichika wasn't present when they first arrived, the reasons for their interest never manifested. Charlotte didn't have to disguise herself as a boy but still has the same mission from her father, she and Ichika are still basically strangers. Cecilia never fought anyone for the Class Rep position and it's not outside the realm of possibility to change that standing, however, she still has the same attitude when she first appeared. 3) Laura is only just now learning about Ichika so she doesn't have it out for him as much as she did before since resentment didn't have time to build. 4) Many will agree the Harem aspect of the series was in fact the weakest element and was more of a distraction.**


End file.
